Study for Dutch Interior (I)

Study for Dutch Interior (I) by Joan Miró is a pivotal drawing from 1928, executed in pencil on graph paper. This significant preparatory work provides analytical insight into the artist’s process for the first canvas in his renowned three-part series, collectively titled the Dutch Interiors. Miró’s choice of medium highlights the methodical, structural foundation that underpinned his subsequent abstract interpretations; the underlying grid of the graph paper provides a measurable framework against which the emerging biomorphic forms are mapped.

This series originated from the Spanish artist's study of postcard reproductions of 17th-century Dutch genre painting, particularly works by Hendrick Martensz Sorgh and Jan Steen. The drawing Study for Dutch Interior (I) specifically derives its structure from Sorgh’s The Lute Player (c. 1660). Miró translated the complex domestic scenes and figural narratives of the Dutch masters into his own distinctive, dynamic visual language. In this drawing, familiar household elements and figures are deconstructed, exaggerated, and energized, characteristic of the unique blend of biomorphism and Surrealist deconstruction that defined the artist’s work in the late 1920s. The precise, yet fluid, pencil lines capture the underlying formal relationships that would later be rendered in vibrant color in the finished oil painting.

This drawing provides crucial documentation of the systematic transformation of classical imagery into radical modernist abstraction during the year 1928. The piece marks a critical point in Miró’s career where structure rigorously informed fantasy. Although the original work resides in the esteemed collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), its importance ensures that reference material and high-quality prints related to this influential Spanish drawing remain accessible for study and appreciation.