Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

Spanish-born Joan Miró (1893-1983) has long been considered one of the most important artists of the twentieth century; revered for his poetic transformation of nature-derived shapes such as the moon and stars into abstract symbols. In this major retrospective, the various phases of Miró's career are presented together in Japan for the first time. Overseen by the Fundació Joan Miró, based in the artist's birthplace of Barcelona, this exhibition sees masterpieces held in collections across the world brought to Tokyo, to form a comprehensive overview of an artistic practice that encompassed painting, ceramics, sculpture and more. Post-impressionistic early works, such as the 1919 self-portrait, give way to a resolutely surrealist approach as Miró becomes involved in the artistic current then sweeping Paris, where he spent much of the 1920s and '30s. The subsequent three decades then see the artist develop and hone the singular style with which he is most associated, exemplified here by exhibition highlight 'The Morning Star' (1940) and other selections from his 'Constellations' series. Finally, the show highlights how, even in his final years, Miró continued his lifelong search for new modes of expression. The exhibition is closed on Mondays (except April 28, May 5) as well as May 7.