Postcards are thought to be used as a cheap way to remember a family vacation or new excursion, but according to Joan Miro; postcards have endless possibilities to portray the past and the present through art. Joan Miro is recognized for producing over a dozen Drawing-Collages. Miro’s work can be found in major collections and are even included in multiple exhibitions. These mass-produced images cut from advertisements and engravings connected by crayon lines on simple white, green or dark brown paper are easily dismissed. The author states that the Drawing-Collages are not given the respect and significance to the artist or the artist history that they should be given. Before times changed contemporary historians and critics had misconceptions of Miro’s work and failed to understand the turn of the century element, and the nostalgia that the postcards revealed. With the support of other artists and the argumentative feedback of historian’s critiques, Miro’s Drawing-Collages were finally respected and the beauty of his art form was amplified and made popular.
How could someone not enjoy a visual display that is portrayed as a “uniquely constructed world within a frame?” The author argues for Miro’s efforts; the playful and innocent work of Miro shows connection to the world of art especially in Paris and Barcelona. Even before the Drawing-Collages were widely distributed, critics in France and Spain were discrediting Miro’s art. Miro’s work began being judged in every way; its purpose, its form and its style. The artist Zervos didn’t take into account the importance of the given subject in the artist’s materials; therefore not understanding the significance or emotional appeal of each collage. Font, another critic also pronounced the flaws he found, stating the collages were “vague forms of dawn lines as stars, bones, insects, larvae, and embryo.” Along with these critics, the list continued; Greenberg and Jacques Dupin not only condemned the materials that Miro used to create his collages but that he didn’t understand the aesthetic purpose of Miro’s own work. Not only was this degrading for Miro, but frustrating for they could not look to find the meaning behind his art. They believed that Miro was obsessed with the decorative and in doing so hid the truth of terrors, and wrongdoings in the world.
Art can be completely subjective and misunderstood, but with explanation critiques of art can change. One of the main critics to Miro’s art Dupin experienced a change of heart. Instead of looking for the complexity of the collages he focused on the clarity and simple nature of them. He now views the works as “…casual and masterful, poetic and graceful…” where before Zervos had called the collages automatic and unemotional. At this point the author believed that Miro was starting to see the respect he deserved. In the summer, Miro was able to escape the discipline he had on himself for his paintings and began the Collage-drawings where his freedom was much greater. The critic’s harsh words were erased because they realized that it was important to understand the significance of what Miro thought of the postcards in order to examine the collages as a whole.
Because postcards were a key aspect of Miro’s collages it was an epiphany that the critics finally understood the cultural meaning behind them. The artist’s collages focused on the concerns and debates of the Barcelona art scene. Gasch, a great supporter of Miro worked to further his credibility by writing on “The Postcard Style”. He agreed with everything Miro spoke of about postcards, where he got them and how he used them. Gasch was able to contrast the opinions of the surrealists with the connections of the places and identities of the cards. The postcard was finally given the credit to cross class, geographic and gender borders that was embraced by Surrealism. The work of Gasch and Miro together began to be published and emphasized among the Surrealist artists.
Gasch reminisced on the favorite cards of himself and Miro’s; music hall singer and dancers. This was Miro’s passion, and through his collages he could show the rhythm of the dancers with lines and bring them together with texture. The sensory qualities of his art were displayed through everyday materials such as sandpaper. The Drawing-Collage was becoming a way to bring about the world of mass culture while capturing more artists to become interested in this way of expression.
As well as culture and showing a way of expression, Miro also showed a sense of nostalgia through his art, whether it be for recent history, experiences, or previous works. Others became seemingly more interested in Miro’s work and the possibilities that postcards could be used for. Carlos Sindreu, a prominent poet explained that behind the words of a postcard there isn’t much meaning, but the potential that the picture on the front of the postcard is extremely powerful. This related directly to the postcards that Miro uses for his Drawing-Collages, he could show “…family, courtship, spectacle and leisure…” through the picture on the card.
The author believed that at one point Miro didn’t get the credit for his Drawing-Collages that he should have earned. Through the change in critic’s perspectives, the epiphany of the extravagant nature in a postcard and the influence he had on other great artists granted him the respect he deserved. The postcards now are known to display the significance of the turns of the century with the political, economic, and artistic pieces of history in this world.
Frey, Joan G. "Joan Miro's Drawing-Collages, August 8, 1933: The Intelletual Obscentities of Postcards." College Art Association (1936). Print.
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