Women and Bird in the Moonlight, 1949 by Joan Miro

This work belongs to a series of paintings that Miro made in 1949-50 in Majorca. Miro's use of simple shapes and bright colors constitutes a highly personal visual language, often charged with symbolic meaning. In this case, the women and bird of the title are easily identifiable under the moon and stars. This imagery suggests a harmonious and elemental relationship between man and nature, which the artist felt was threatened by modern civilisation.

When asked whether the title used here was correct, the artist replied (letter of 17 June 1954): 'To the whole of this series of paintings, which was executed very slowly, I gave on completion a general title of "Paintings", but later, to be more precise and give a more objective and concrete meaning, I entitled your picture "Femmes, Oiseau au Clair de Lune".'