Femme III 1965

Joan Miró made this painting, Femme III, without a specific date, but probably with oil, and definitely with a sense of play. There’s a kind of raw simplicity in Miró’s marks; the way he lays down these colors, like he’s thinking out loud. The paint is applied thinly, almost stained into the canvas, which gives it this airy quality, like the forms are floating just above the surface. The texture is rough, unpretentious, like a kid’s drawing, if that kid was deeply invested in surrealism. Take a look at that circle around the body. It’s not a perfect circle, it wobbles and varies in thickness, but that’s what makes it so alive. It's not about perfect representation, but about capturing a feeling, an essence. Miró reminds me a bit of Paul Klee, especially in how they both manage to distill complex ideas into these simple, almost childlike forms. It's a conversation across time. It's an ongoing conversation about seeing and feeling.