they affected his art. “My nature is tragic and taciturn. … When I was young, I went through periods of profound sadness…. I’m a pessimist. I always think that everything is going to turn out badly. If there is something humorous in my painting, it’s not that I have consciously looked for it. Perhaps this humor comes from a need to escape from the tragic side of my temperament” [Schildkraut and Hirshfeld, 1995, 1996].
Miró revealed his depression and his desire to transcend suffering in many of his paintings, including the self-portraits that he painted through his midlife period (1937–1938). His comments on his state of mind when painting the Constellations, which Miró created from 1940 to 1941 in the shadow of the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, shed light on how Miró was able to transform his depressed feelings into energy for painting. Through introspection and meditation, Miró’s spiritual beliefs sustained him in his suffering, allowing his depressions to fuel his artistic creativity [Schildkraut and Hirshfeld, 1995, 1996].
Referring to the depressive side of his temperament in a 1947 interview, he noted: “If I don’t paint, I worry, I become very depressed, I fret and become gloomy and get ‘black ideas’ and I don’t know what to do with myself” [Schildkraut and Hirshfeld, 1995, 1996]. Thus, it seems that art making, in part, served a healing function for Miró.
Schildkraut et al. [1994] showed how depression played a crucial role in the artistic development of Joan Miró and documented the relationship of the artist’s spiritual beliefs and yearnings for transcendence both to his depression and to his art work. The identification of genius with depression and suffering which we have noted is not necessarily pejorative; however, the romantic genius is destined to play out the drama of life in public [Rose, 1996].
Schildkraut et al. [1994] explored similar issues in the mid-twentieth century abstract expressionist artists of New York, many of whom were strongly influenced by Miró, who may be seen as a precursor of abstract expressionism. A strikingly high prevalence of psychopathology was found in this group. Depression or depressive spectrum disorders (depressive, hyperthymic, and cyclothymic personalities or temperaments) were predominant.
Although there is no clear-cut evidence that Miró experienced manic episodes, the possibility has been raised that he was cyclothymic. Miró’s own descriptions of cycles governing his life and work are compatible with this assessment, coupled with the marked variations in his productivity. On several occasions, Miró spoke of experiencing regular cycles in his work, affecting both the rate and process of his painting as well as his subject matter. “Both my life and my work are governed by alternating phases. Yes, indeed, one can speak of cycles in my painting” [Schildkraut and Hirshfeld, 1995]. During those few particularly fruitful decades of invention he gave free rein to an imagination that has no parallel in the history of art [Kimmelman, 1993].
Roland Penrose, his friend and biographer, commented: “Behind the cheerful, innocent, even tranquil look in his face, Miró has never been immune to attacks of violent anguish and depression. He has, however, always been able to balance the threats of imminent disaster by equally potent forces. It is the ability to live with these tensions with comparative equanimity that gives his presence among others a unique quality and a sense of controlled power” [Schildkraut and Hirshfeld, 1995].
A further limitation of the diagnosis is the inability to pinpoint the particular nature of Joan Miró’s affective disorder. As Schildkraut [1996] stated, retrospective diagnoses made on the basis of historical sources, in the absence of direct clinical examinations, are often problematic. So, although there is evidence that Miró experienced cyclicity in his moods, we do not know if Miró had a true bipolar disorder. Moreover, we do not understand the exact nature of the relation between his depressions and his creativity, and we cannot match the depressed state to specific works [Schildkraut and Hirshfeld, 1995, 1996].
Conclusions
Psychopathology, mainly mood disorders, has been closely related with creativity. Joan Miró, one of the most famous painters of the world, suffered from depression from his adolescence. Whether depression was the inspiration for his work, or his work was therapeutic for his depression, will never be clarified. However, he left a great legacy for humanity and his work is admired all over the world.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Raquel Lavandera Fernández (Oficina de Investigación Biosanitaria-FICYT/ Oviedo) and Cristina Pérez Bueno (Biblioteca Jacques Dupin/Fundació Joan Miró/Barcelona) for their helpful contributions.
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Montserrat González Delgado
Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias
Avenida de Roma s/n
ES–33011 Oviedo (Spain)
E-Mail [email protected]
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