The Gold of the Azure

Painted in his later period, when the world had already adapted to the vision Miró pioneered in his youth, The Gold of the Azure is a work that straddles movements. Equal parts surrealist and abstract expressionist, Miró's gold background allows the viewer to impose their own interpretation and feelings onto it. The frenetic blue that sits at the centre, revealing in its corner the unpainted canvas, feels distinctly human; the blue of the earth and the visibiility of the hand in each brushstroke grounds us. Yet the gold that dominates the work is distinctly ethereal, and the hair thin stars and crescent black shape place us in a celestial realm. This, then, is the genius of the work, positioned between movements and between the earth and the heavens.