Following several years of exile in France due to the Civil War, Miró returned to Spain in 1940, this time fleeing from the world war. His return to his native region of Mont-roig resulted in a period of revision, and he once again experienced doubts regarding conventional easel painting. Miró was ever more convinced that artistic creation should have a public function and should “reach the spirit of men” in his own words, for which easel painting was not the most effective medium. This interest led the artist to investigate sculpture and ceramics. The latter medium, to which he was introduced by his friend the ceramicist Josep Llorens Artigas, would be particularly important for Miró as it implied a reinvention of ancient techniques linked to a mastery of earth and fire. At the same time his collaboration with Llorens Artigas’ team satisfied Miró’s desire for a return to a mythical, pre-historical period in which artistic creation was supposedly anonymous and collective.
