The Awakening of the Giant (L'Éveil du Géant)
Not on view
In 1938, Miró began experimenting with the printmaking techniques of etching, engraving, and drypoint. In these intaglio works, he expanded his visual language to reflect not only the possibilities offered by printmaking but also his tortured response both to the turmoil engulfing Spain and to the rise of fascism and likelihood of another world war. Two years earlier, in 1936, he and his family had fled to Paris in order to escape the Spanish Civil War. The atrocities plaguing his native country caused Miró great anguish, and his works from this period offer nightmarish visions filled with frightened animals, grotesque giants, and menacing figures, whose exaggerated teeth, fists, and snarling facial expressions convey terror and suffering. This example came to the Museum through a bequest of William S. Lieberman.
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