The Farm

"The Farm" is a seminal oil on canvas painting created by Joan Miró between 1921 and 1922. This comprehensive work exemplifies the Spanish artist's technical precision during his early, figurative period, broadly classified within the modernist period of 1901 to 1925. Painted with meticulous attention to detail and intense organizational clarity, the surface treatment balances smooth, controlled application with clearly delineated forms, reflecting influences from Catalan Romanesque art combined with emerging proto-Surrealist interests. This highly structured composition, measuring 48 3/8 x 55 inches, is now a key part of the permanent collection at the National Gallery of Art.

Miró painstakingly captured the various elements of his family’s summer home and property in Mont-roig del Camp, Catalonia, during his transition between living in rural Spain and working in avant-garde Paris. The canvas is densely packed with recognizable agricultural tools, domestic animals, and architectural features, yet they are organized in a schematic, flattened space that deliberately defies traditional perspective. Although rendered with photographic precision, the clustered objects operate within a singular, internalized logic, foreshadowing the more fully developed biomorphic and Surrealist vocabulary Miró would adopt later in the decade. He spent nine months working on the piece, describing it as a vital, condensed autobiography of his life in the country.

The work, a cornerstone acquisition for the National Gallery of Art, remains one of the most celebrated representations of Miró's foundational modernism. As key pieces of early modern art enter the status of being utilized widely, high-quality reference images and fine art prints of this seminal canvas are disseminated globally for scholarly study and general enjoyment, cementing its legacy as a pivotal achievement from the 1921-1922 period. The emotional depth and structural clarity Miró invested in the work continue to resonate with viewers today.