Still Life with Old Shoe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Still Life with Old Shoe |
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| Catalan: Natura morta del sabatot | |
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| Artist | Joan Miró |
| Year | 1937 |
| Catalogue | 80555 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 81.3 cm × 116.8 cm (32.0 in × 46.0 in) |
| Location | Museum of Modern Art, New York City |
| Accession | 1094.1969 |
Still Life with Old Shoe is a famous painting from 1937 by the Spanish artist Joan Miró. It is an oil painting on canvas and is now kept at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The painting was given to the museum in 1969. It shows Miró's strong feelings about the difficult times in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.
Contents
Why Miró Painted This
Life in Paris During Wartime
The Spanish Civil War began in 1936. Joan Miró first stayed at his home in Montroig del Camp. But soon, he had to leave Spain for France. On December 16, 1936, he arrived in Paris with his wife Pilar and daughter Maria Dolores.
Life in Paris was hard for them. They lived in a very small space. Miró did not have a proper place to paint. So, he wrote down his ideas on small cards instead. Just like when he first came to Paris in 1920, Miró went to drawing classes. He studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere.
Miró still did not have his own studio. He started to work in a small corner of the Pierre gallery. Between January and May 1937, he created Still Life with Old Shoe there. This painting is one of his most important and unusual works. It shows his deep sadness and worry about the war in Spain. The painting uses strong images to show the rise of bad things and the decline of people.
Perhaps the events of the moment, especially the drama of the war in Spain, made me feel a need to penetrate reality. I worked from life every day at the Grande Chaumiere. At that time I felt a need to control things through realism
— Joan Miró
Art as a Message: Speaking Out
Miró supported the Republicans, one of the groups fighting in the war. In 1937, he showed his large painting called The Reaper. It was displayed at the Spanish building during the Paris International Exhibition of 1937. This was the same exhibition where Pablo Picasso's famous painting Guernica was also shown.
The Reaper was a very tall painting. Sadly, it was lost after the Spanish building was taken down. In the same year, Miró also made a poster. It had a powerful message in French: Aidez l'Espagne. This means "Help Spain."
What Does the Painting Show?
Symbols and Colors
In the painting, you can see several objects. On the left, there is an apple with a fork stuck in it. Next to it, there is a bottle, a loaf of bread, and the old shoe that gives the painting its name.
The main colors in the painting are black, red, and a bright, sharp yellow. These colors are used to show a very intense and troubled scene. It looks like a landscape on fire, even though the fire itself is not directly in the painting. Dark shadows at the horizon make this unsettling feeling even stronger. You can clearly see the shapes of all the objects. The curved lines used in the painting make it feel active and full of movement.
