Bathing Woman 1925

Joan Miró painted this oil on canvas, Bathing Woman, in the mid-twentieth century. We see a crescent moon floating above a body of water as sinuous lines dance across the lower half of the composition. The moon, a symbol laden with ancient meaning, has long been associated with femininity, cycles, and the subconscious. In ancient cultures, lunar deities were often goddesses of fertility and mystery. This celestial body appears across millennia, from the Minoan moon goddess Dictynna to the Japanese moon god Tsukuyomi. Miró presents us with its reduced form, and yet it is immediately recognizable. Notice, too, the presence of stars, which are found in numerous contexts, including ancient Mesopotamian art. The moon and stars evoke the celestial and its eternal rhythm, reminding us of how symbols persist, evolve, and resurface in our collective memory. The dark sea, full of subconscious drives, reflects the light of these heavenly bodies in a psycho-spiritual landscape.