"Maggio Mirò"

 

“Maggio Mirò” – Montecatini Terme 1980

When we talk about “Maggio Mirò” we are talking about one of the greatest events in the cultural history of Montecatini.
The initiative took shape following a debate that took place at the Palazzo del Turismo on the occasion of the events in homage to the great artist, promoted by the Tuscany region in 1979 to which they dedicated a booklet.

Held in 1980 - thanks to the active collaboration of the Municipal Administration and the Montecatini Health Authority who took up the proposal and immediately took action to ensure the success of the meeting by contacting painters, sculptors, film directors, poets, writers, actors and musicians ….. - this elevated moment of art created in honor of Joan Mirò was desired by Carlos Franqui (Cifuentes - Cuba, December 4, 1921 - San Juan - Costa Rica, April 16, 2010).

Carlos Franqui

A Cuban writer, poet, journalist and extraordinary art lover, Franqui took part in the revolution together with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and, once the victory was achieved, he served as Minister of Culture on the island.

Later disappointed by Castro's authoritarian policies, he sided against the regime and in 1968 he was forced into exile.

Carlos Franqui in Montecatini

A friend of Picasso and Jean Paul Sartre, he spent the first years of his exile in France and moved to Montecatini in the early Seventies, loved for the beautiful landscapes and the meditative qualities of the place.

He found a house in Via Fedeli, walked along the avenues and went to the small field of the friars of Sant'Antonio to watch his son Camilo, now a painter, play football.

Joan Mirò and Carlos Franqui

A close friend of Joan Mirò, Franqui proposed organizing an event dedicated to the Catalan Master, the “Maggio Mirò” precisely, created in collaboration with the Municipality.

For the occasion Mirò painted “Donna avvolgita in un volo diuccello”, the huge canvas, today exhibited at the Mo.C.A., which he himself donated to the city of Montecatini in 1980.

The Spanish artist was unable to participate in the “Maggio Mirò” for health reasons and it was Carlos Franqui who brought the large work created in the Master’s studio in Palma de Mallorca to Montecatini. In order to avoid bureaucratic problems, Franqui transported the canvas wrapped around itself as if it were an oriental carpet.

Great guests paid homage to Mirò

Many artists met in Montecatini to pay homage to Mirò and are mentioned in the brochure reproduced below.

In addition to painters such as Valerio Adami, Paul Rebeyrolle, Emilio Tadini, Manuel Rivera, great artists such as Cuevas, Camacho, Salinas, Ferrer, Barreras arrived from Central America and, from Spain, Munoz, Royo, Sempere, Alfaro, Canogar, Gabino, Clavè, Pijuan, Ullan, fellow countrymen of Mirò. Many authors born in the Pistoia area such as Ulivi, Bartolozzi, Giovannelli and Agenore Fabbri also participated in the event. Curiously, the great French poet Jacques Dupin, a great friend of the Catalan artist, was present with one of his canvases.

1998

In 1998, the “Maggio Mirò” was remembered and celebrated with an exhibition entitled “Omaggio a Mirò” which, organized by the Department of Culture, was held at the “Dino Scalabrino” Academy of Art in Montecatini from December 19, 1998 to January 24, 1999. The exhibition gave rise to the catalogue “Omaggio a Mirò”.

2013

In 2013 (March 23 / September 8) at the Mo.C.A. the exhibition entitled “Mirò and Friends” was created, the first real exhibition that the Mo.C.A hosts after the debut with the works of the civic collection on December 4, 2012.

Conceived to pay homage to Joan Mirò, and to all the artists who were friends with him during his long and glorious existence, the exhibition saw many of the works that speak of Mirò's artistic relationship with Montecatini Terme, graphic works and drawings, signed by the Maestro.
Alongside Mirò's works, the works of his friends from Paris - from those from his first stay in the French capital, such as Andrè Masson and Andrè Breton, to those who shared the experience of Surrealism with him, such as Salvador Dalì and Giorgio De Chirico, to others who accompanied him over the years and were close to him until his death, such as Jacques Dupin, Eduard Pignon, as well as Carlos Franqui himself - and his Italian friends - from Emilio Vedova, who he met during the Biennials and the Venetian exhibitions, to Marino Marini, who he had already met in Paris, to all the others who paid homage to him during the Maggio Mirò, and who in this exhibition are presented again with new works, as if to make a further artistic tribute to the great Master.

Works at the Terme Tamerici

The exhibition also included some of the works created at the Terme Tamerici during the “Maggio Mirò” in 1980, including the works of Valerio Adami and Renato Guttuso.