In November 1936, five months after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Miró went to Paris for a brief visit; because of increasingly perilous conditions in Catalonia, that visit turned into four years of involuntary exile. By January 1937, he decided to “do something absolutely different.” Using a magnifying mirror to enlarge his face by as much as three times, Miró worked on Self-Portrait I for nearly half a year. The painting presents a complex image of the artist, at once a declaration of his identity - Miró considered the work one of the most important of his life - and a reflection of the uncertain conditions under which he was living.
Organized by Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, with Lydia Mullin, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture.
