Under the layers of Miró

The Joan Miró Foundation has revealed a significant discovery about the work Pintura (1925-1927) by Joan Miró: beneath the visible pictorial layer, a portrait of Dolors Ferrà i Oromí , the artist's mother, is hidden. The research, led by Elisabet Serrat , has had the collaboration of the Centre de Restauració de Béns Móbles de Catalunya (CRBMC) , the Universidad Pablo de Olavide de Sevilla (UPO) , the Mas Miró Foundation and the Miró Mallorca Foundation .

The oil on canvas Pintura was a gift from Miró to his friend Joan Prats, who kept it until 1975, when it became part of the collection of the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona. Now, almost a century after its creation, the latest scientific analysis techniques have made it possible to discover the underlying portrait in great detail. This discovery has been possible thanks to the use of non-invasive technology, such as radiography, infrared photography and hyperspectral imaging, which have made visible the work hidden beneath the painting that we knew until now.

Pintura, Joan Miró (1925-1927). Fundació Joan Miró. Donación de Joan Prats

To share this discovery with the public, the Joan Miró Foundation presents two proposals: the documentary El secret de Miró and the exhibition Sota les capes de Miró. A scientific investigation. The documentary, made in collaboration with the “la Caixa” Foundation, covers the entire research process. The exhibition, for its part, allows us to observe Pintura closely and understand how the portrait of Dolors Ferrà i Oromí was deciphered, highlighting the techniques used and the methodology followed. The study also recovers a key piece of information: as early as 1978, a restoration report kept at the Foundation warned about the poor condition of Pintura, with small losses and cracks. That same report included a first X-ray of the work, where the presence of an underlying portrait could already be sensed, although at that time it could not be identified. Now, thanks to new analysis techniques and the desire to go further, this hidden image has been revealed with precision, adding a new piece to the puzzle of Miró's universe.

The portrait of Dolors Ferrà i Oromí could be the work of Cristòfol Montserrat Jorba , a Catalan painter specialized in portraits and contemporary of Miró. Its similarity to another portrait preserved in Son Boter and now exhibited at the Fundació Joan Miró reinforces this hypothesis.

Retrat de Dolors Ferrà Oromí per Cristòfol Montserrat Jorba a la Fundació Joan Miró.

This research not only allows us to delve deeper into Miró's creative process, but also confirms his habit of reusing canvases. It is known that between the forties and fifties he painted on top of portraits, while in later decades he did so on landscapes. This practice was not accidental: Miró left traces of previous works, in a gesture that has been interpreted as a criticism of academic painting and its lack of content. In fact, analysis of the surface of Pintura has allowed us to detect reliefs corresponding to earrings and a brooch, elements that Miró could have eliminated, but that he decided to keep. Historiography indicates that this critical stance of Miró against imitative painting was already present since the 1920s, when he expressed to Raynal his desire to "assassinate painting".

This discovery opens up new perspectives on Miró's work and his creative process. Far from being a hermetic artist, his painting continues to offer new readings and avenues of study, making us rethink his relationship with artistic tradition. With the documentary and the exhibition, the Fundació Joan Miró reaffirms its commitment to disseminating the work and research processes, making them more accessible to the public. Particularly noteworthy is the work of the Department of Preventive Conservation and the Collection, which contributes to bringing research and analysis of the works closer to society.

Joan Miró al seu estudi de Son Boter a Palma, amb el retrat de Dolors Ferrà Oromí al fons.