Devotion to Catalunya: Ceramics of Picasso, Miró, Barceló
Yoku Moku Museum
Starts 2/10
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Artists
Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Miquel Barceló
Yoku Moku Museum’s Devotion to Catalunya: Ceramics of Picasso, Miro, Barcelo, an exhibition curated by Spanish art scholar Kenji Matsuda, focuses on ceramic works by three of Spain’s most celebrated 20th century artists, exploring their individual expression of deep connections to Catalonia.
Catalonia, an autonomous region bordering the Mediterranean Sea in northeastern Spain, has a history of continuously pursuing independence from Spain, even in the harsh conditions of the Spanish Civil War and cultural suppression under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) moved from Málaga to Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, with his family at the age of 14 and his formative years were spent in the heart of the avant-garde Catalan Modernisme art movement. Later, as an aspiring young artist, Picasso relocated from Barcelona to Paris, capital of the art world at the time. Even in self-imposed exile during the Spanish Civil War, Picasso continued to support Catalonia, his adoptive home. The depth of his attachment to Catalonia is powerfully demonstrated by his donation of works (through friends in the city) to Barcelona, particularly in the 1950s, followed by the establishment and his subsequent bequest, carried out by his wife Jacquieline, to the Picasso Museum Barcelona.
Juan Miró (1893-1983) is another artist profoundly drawn to Catalonia. His impression of what seemed to him a primal landscape when convalescing at the age of 18 in the rural village of Montróg in Catalonia’s Tarragona province, remained in his heart. Miró who had fled to Paris at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War later returned, via Mallorca, to Montróg where he continued to base himself. He began creating sculptures in the 1950s. Encounters with sculptor Josep Llorens Artigas and his son Juan Gardi Artigas (Juanet) led to numerous collaborative ceramic and bronze works, many of which were cast at the Parellada foundry in Barcelona. Likely aware of expressive differences that emerged from different locations, Miró used multiple foundries for his sculptures. More than simply the land where he was born, Catalonia for Miró undoubtedly was a special region where he felt protected and at ease.
Miquel Barceló (1957 – ), a leading contemporary Spanish artist who ranks in the lineage of Picasso and Miró. Originally from Felanitx, a Catalan-speaking town on the island of Mallorca, he had a deep cultural and regional connection with Miró who settled on the island in his later years. Picasso and Miró remain Barceló’s revered mentors. Influenced by the scenery and atmosphere of Mallorca, Catalonia, the locus of his work, as well as the broader Mediterranean and as lands as diverse as Africa and the Himalayas and beyond, Barceló continues to question the very meaning of what it is to be human on planet earth. The Miquel Barceló Exhibition, his first retrospective exhibition in Japan, toured Tokyo Nagasaki and Mie, starting in 2021. It led to a collaboration in 2023 with local Shigaraki ware artist Furuya Kazuya (1976 – ) in Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture. The ceramics Barceló created in Shigaraki, clearly imbued with fresh inspiration from the surroundings, have a feel and quality distinct from works he produced previously in Spain.
A common affinity with Catalonia links the expressions in ceramics of the three distinctive Spanish artists — Picasso, Miró, and Barceló. The exhibition marks the public debut of Miquel Barceló’s Shigaraki ceramic works. The Yoku Moku Museum is also featuring works on loan from other Japanese museums for the first time. Viewers will experience the distinctive approaches of the three celebrated Spanish artists through the lens of their ceramic works and their shared connection and attachment to Catalonia.
Catalonia, an autonomous region bordering the Mediterranean Sea in northeastern Spain, has a history of continuously pursuing independence from Spain, even in the harsh conditions of the Spanish Civil War and cultural suppression under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) moved from Málaga to Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, with his family at the age of 14 and his formative years were spent in the heart of the avant-garde Catalan Modernisme art movement. Later, as an aspiring young artist, Picasso relocated from Barcelona to Paris, capital of the art world at the time. Even in self-imposed exile during the Spanish Civil War, Picasso continued to support Catalonia, his adoptive home. The depth of his attachment to Catalonia is powerfully demonstrated by his donation of works (through friends in the city) to Barcelona, particularly in the 1950s, followed by the establishment and his subsequent bequest, carried out by his wife Jacquieline, to the Picasso Museum Barcelona.
Juan Miró (1893-1983) is another artist profoundly drawn to Catalonia. His impression of what seemed to him a primal landscape when convalescing at the age of 18 in the rural village of Montróg in Catalonia’s Tarragona province, remained in his heart. Miró who had fled to Paris at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War later returned, via Mallorca, to Montróg where he continued to base himself. He began creating sculptures in the 1950s. Encounters with sculptor Josep Llorens Artigas and his son Juan Gardi Artigas (Juanet) led to numerous collaborative ceramic and bronze works, many of which were cast at the Parellada foundry in Barcelona. Likely aware of expressive differences that emerged from different locations, Miró used multiple foundries for his sculptures. More than simply the land where he was born, Catalonia for Miró undoubtedly was a special region where he felt protected and at ease.
Miquel Barceló (1957 – ), a leading contemporary Spanish artist who ranks in the lineage of Picasso and Miró. Originally from Felanitx, a Catalan-speaking town on the island of Mallorca, he had a deep cultural and regional connection with Miró who settled on the island in his later years. Picasso and Miró remain Barceló’s revered mentors. Influenced by the scenery and atmosphere of Mallorca, Catalonia, the locus of his work, as well as the broader Mediterranean and as lands as diverse as Africa and the Himalayas and beyond, Barceló continues to question the very meaning of what it is to be human on planet earth. The Miquel Barceló Exhibition, his first retrospective exhibition in Japan, toured Tokyo Nagasaki and Mie, starting in 2021. It led to a collaboration in 2023 with local Shigaraki ware artist Furuya Kazuya (1976 – ) in Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture. The ceramics Barceló created in Shigaraki, clearly imbued with fresh inspiration from the surroundings, have a feel and quality distinct from works he produced previously in Spain.
A common affinity with Catalonia links the expressions in ceramics of the three distinctive Spanish artists — Picasso, Miró, and Barceló. The exhibition marks the public debut of Miquel Barceló’s Shigaraki ceramic works. The Yoku Moku Museum is also featuring works on loan from other Japanese museums for the first time. Viewers will experience the distinctive approaches of the three celebrated Spanish artists through the lens of their ceramic works and their shared connection and attachment to Catalonia.
Schedule | Feb 10 (Tue) 2026-Dec 20 (Sun) 2026 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults ¥1400, University Students¥1000, High School Students and Under free. | ||||
| Website | https://yokumokumuseum.com/5009/ | ||||
| Venue | Yoku Moku Museum https://yokumokumuseum.com/en/ | ||||
| Location | 6-15-1 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku Tokyo 107-0062 | ||||
| Access | 9 minute walk from exit B1 at Omotesando Station on the Hanzomon, Ginza and Chiyoda lines; From the Miyamasuzaka exit of JR Shibuya Station, take the Toei bus and get off at Aoyama Gakuin Middle School. The venue is 1 minute walk from there. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3486-8000 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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