In Studio: A Look Inside Joan Miró’s Workshop

From a very young age, I was fascinated by Joan Miró’s work. His influence can be felt in the streets of my home city, Barcelona, where you can find many of his works. In fact, my house is in front of the apartment where Miró was born, and I think that made me even more interested in him, both as an artist and a person.

So when I was planning a trip to Mallorca, the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation was at the top of my list of places to visit. I had already visited the Miró Foundation in Barcelona several times, and was fascinated and excited to see another in Mallorca.

The Mallorcan foundation is comprised of three different buildings: “El taller Sert”, a studio designed by friend and architect Josep Lluís Sert and built in 1956; “Son Boter”, a Mallorcan home built in the second half of the 18th century that Miró used as a study for painting and sculpture; and the Moneo building, the foundation’s headquarters inaugurated in 1992.

During my trip, I gravitated towards El taller Sert, which is the result of Miró’s desire to have the studio of his dreams. It is a space made entirely to his preferences and needs. Miró was in charge of every decorating detail, making it his ideal workshop to create and be inspired.

My photographs were taken at the Sert Workshop, which the foundation has preserved and recreated so it is exactly as it was when Miró worked there. Everything seems as if time has stopped, and it felt so special to be in the space, experiencing his creative presence.

What fascinated me the most about this place was the small memories that Miró had been exhibiting. Along with his brushes, pencils and fabrics, you find pieces that were part of his personal and creative universe: postcards from different places, small pieces of nature, figurines, books, sculptures and even notes and clippings.

While the works that now dress the space are reproductions made by the foundation since they could not guarantee their conservation, it was amazing to see Miró’s art in the very place he contemplated creating it.