Joan Miro is a well-known surrealistic artist earning his international acclaim for a series of self-portraits written during varied periods of his mastership. The image under consideration in the following paper named “Self-Portrait I” is completed by Joan Miro in 1937-1938. The artist accomplished it in pencil and crayon on canvas. Currently, the picture can be found in The Museum of Modern Art located in New York. The main themes of the paper are centered around Miro’s philosophic approach to his personality; the artist fills every piece of his face and neck depicted in the portrait with a lot of varied details including flowers, leaves, and twigs suggesting certain ideas about his personality. This work of art will be analyzed in the context of its time and the art school it belongs to.
The work of art under consideration represents the art school of surrealists with its philosophic overtones, ambiguous ideas, an unconventional approach to the basic methods, and conceptions of picture creation. Speaking about the painting’s characteristics, it should be stated, first of all, that it can be described as using content peculiar for surrealistic artists of this period. The lines of the picture are sharp and straight with clear visibility of pencil contours; this suggests that the author of the picture has a sharp mind and outward personality. The picture features unexpected juxtapositions of colors and shapes. These juxtapositions feature unusual, and it can be even said, abnormal form combinations for portrait conception.
Further, regarding the color use and color harmony in this work of art, it can be said that the painting uses a variety of obscure and glooming colors. This use of color harmony can be described as indicative of surrealists. Speaking about the range of color which can be seen in this painting, it should be said that it is rather unvaried and features gloomy and cheerless colors such as grey and pale tinctures of green, yellow, and pink. Miro resorts to the use of irregular colors here. We see him depicting varied parts of his face and neck in green and yellow which are abnormal colors for them. The colors can be hardly addressed as complemented. Thus, the conclusion can be made that the author aims to lay some unconventional philosophic ideas about his personality upon the audience. Probably, the author is deliberate in the choice of this color harmony as such colors represent the certain mood of the person including the ideas on the search of meaning in life, some level of dissatisfaction with the phenomena of the surrounding world, desire to find new ways of world perception and seeing one’s own personality and the pursuit for some other sources of enlightenment including the connection with the nature and universe.
Next, the painting can be evaluated as having a row of uneasily noticed objects which is relevant for surrealists. In this painting, Miro seems to have an objective to impress the audience by the depth of his philosophic approach to his own personality. Thus, he applies unconventional strategies and depicts a row of objects which are inconsiderably noticed on his face. These objects are mainly nature-related including flowers, leaves, and twigs. The subject matter of the picture is represented in an unconventional way for portrait accomplishment which is very common for surrealistic painters. Blurred lineaments can be seen throughout the whole picture giving it a special appeal to philosophic themes.
Finally, the picture composition is set around the author’s face shown as a part of a scene from nature that appears to be very diffused and blurred. The materials used for the picture are pencil and crayon; it is accomplished on canvas which is indicative for surrealistic artists of this period. Speaking about the connotation the author wanted to put into his work, it seems that it appears as a philosophic implication to his own personality. The image under consideration can be described as presenting a good impression on the use of volume and space; it appears to look larger than it is mainly on the reason of the color harmony and the organization of the joint parts.
In conclusion, Joan Miro‘s “Self-Portrait I” (1937-1938) can be described as featuring poor complementary colors, a low level of saturation, and vibrancy which makes it not very appealing to the audience, but very thought-provoking as a result. In this painting, Miro resorts to the use of unnatural hues and gloomy tones which adds to the general impression the picture produces. Such obscure colors as grey and pale tinctures of green, yellow and pink were often used by surrealists to affect their audience and create the impression of symbolic and philosophic overtones. This image can be described as one of a vivid example of such tendency by surrealists. The significance of this work of art can be acclaimed as very important for the understanding of Miro’s philosophic approach to his personality; the picture also makes it great contribution to the development of a surrealistic way of thinking.