Peinture (Painting) [formerly Dark Brown and White Oval]

1926

painting | oil on canvas

Not currently on view in the museum

Peinture (Painting) [formerly Dark Brown and White Oval]

From 1925 through 1927 Miró painted his "magnetic fields": spare, monochromatic canvases inhabited by simple and often whimsical biomorphic shapes.

The lone form in this work beams across the empty, hazy space of the picture. The only spatial definition is provided by a dotted line, which connects one edge to the form and then extends upward. Spontaneous and intuitive, the smiling shape is tenuously tied to a rectangular base, its glazed grin lit by the half-shadowed moon.

The dreamlike atmosphere is a dramatic departure from Cubism into a world defined only by the imagination.

28 7/8 in. x 36 1/4 in. (73.34 cm x 92.08 cm)

Acquired 1980

Collection SFMOMA

Gift of Joseph M. Bransten in memory of Ellen Hart

80.428

Keywords

faces, smiling, red, circles, dots, surrealist, Surrealism

This resource represents a portion of SFMOMA's collection. Information about the artworks presented here is subject to revision. Please contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to verify information. If you are planning to visit SFMOMA, please note that not all artworks are on view at all times.

This resource is for educational use and its contents may not be reproduced without permission. Please review our Terms of Use for more information.