The Shooting Star

1938

Joan Miró

Artist, Spanish, 1893 - 1983

At least two surreal, imaginary creatures are surrounded by rubbed and blended orbs of coral orange, dandelion yellow, cobalt blue, emerald green, black, gray, and pastel green and pink in this abstracted painting. The larger being is in the center of the canvas and nearly reaches the top edge. Its triangular, oblong head has a tiny face with two eyes, a nose, and a dash for a mouth at the top corner. A long, sinuous neck reaches halfway down the composition to join the oval-shaped body, which has two thick arms with small hands. A V-shaped form at the center of the body, like folded wings, and a rounded bottom are difficult to interpret. What may be legs are fragmented fields of flat cardinal red, black, yellow, and green. The second creature is about a third the height of the first. Tucked in the lower right corner of the canvas, this critter has a tiny bird-like head, a bulbous body, and long legs. A second bird with a short beak and a crest like a rooster appears to be superimposed upside down on the other bird, so the clawed feet point upward. A six-pointed star painted in black with two red triangles and one yellow triangle at its center is over the birds. A tall shape made of black circles like a tower of bubbles is to the left. The upper corners of the painting are rubbed with mostly gray and black, and patches of color create a loose band across the composition about a third of the way down the canvas. Some areas, like the two birds in the lower right, might be drawn directly onto the textured canvas. The artist signed the lower right corner, “Miró.”
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Joseph H. Hazen

  • Dimensions

    overall: 65.2 x 54.4 cm (25 11/16 x 21 7/16 in.)
    framed: 87 x 77.4 x 5.7 cm (34 1/4 x 30 1/2 x 2 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1970.36.1

  • Copyright

    Copyright © 1998 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Galerie Pierre, Paris). (Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York). (Stephen Hahn Gallery, New York).[1] Joseph H. Hazen [1898-1994], New York, by 1966; gift 1970 to NGA.
[1] Provenance prior to donor per deed of gift.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1966

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Hazen Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 1966, brochure no. 81.

1994

  • Les Tentations de Bosch ou l'Éternel Retour, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Portugal, 1994, no. 48, repro.

2004

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Alphonso Jackson, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C., 2004-2008.

2008

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Steve Preston, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C., 2008.

2009

  • Dada e Surrealismo riscoperti, Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, 2009-2010, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2011

  • The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2011, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

  • Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape, Tate, London; Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2011-2012, not in catalogue (shown only in Washington).

2012

  • Encounters with the 1930's, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2012-2013, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 234, repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 270, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: miro

Wikidata ID

Q20193172


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