Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Catalan-Spanish painter, sculptor, ceramicist, and printmaker. A key figure in the development of modernism, Miró was one of the great originals of 20th-century art. He drew on cubism and anticipated surrealism, establishing a unique visual language.

Miró was born in Barcelona in 1893, and in 1920 moved to Paris. He cultivated relationships with artist Pablo Picasso, French surrealist painters, and American writer Ernest Hemingway. Among Miró’s most notable works is The Farm (1921–1922). This almost hallucinatory painting is an homage to the Catalan countryside and his family’s farm in the village of Montroig.

During his lifetime, the artist exhibited internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Tate Modern in London. In 1975, he opened the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona to showcase his work and promote research on modern and contemporary art.