The Catalan artist, Joan Miró i Ferrà, died on Christmas Day 1983, 25 years ago today. At the time of his death he was one of Spain’s most important contemporary artists. Since then, art history has confirmed Miró’s importance in the context of 20th century art.

Miró’s most widely seen work of art may well have been the wall tapestry in New York City, due to its hanging in the lobby of 2 World Trade Center. The World Trade Center Tapestry was a gigantic (6.10 x 10.67 m) piece made of wool and hemp, specially commissioned for the WTC and sadly perished on September 11th, 2001. Miró had initially turned down the NYC Port Authority‘s commission, because he had not created tapestries before. But several years later, at the urging of some Spanish nuns who wanted a tapestry for their hospital, Miró acquired the skill from a village tapestry maker. After Miró finished the piece for the World Trade Center, he decided that tapestries were too much work and stated that he would not make any more.

The Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma currently shows an exhibition of 120 original posters by the artist. The Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca, also in Palma, shows an exhibition of  paintings, drawings and sculptures under the title Evocation of the Feminine Image. Both exhibitions are well worth a visit.

The photo was taken in the late artist’s studio in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: March 12th, 2008. The time was 16:38:28. The image of the lost WTC tapestry is reproduced in homage to the memory of the artist, under recognition of the copyright holders’ rights.