Harlequin’s Carnival

Carnaval d’Arlequin, or Harlequin’s Carnival, was painted after the wake of the Surrealist movement warranted the use of dreams and subconscious thoughts as key subject matter of artworks. Joan Miro used this to liberate his own style, by mixing magical elements into reality, which was for Miro, a way to shape lived experiences and memories freely into artworks. Painted around 1924-25, this work would go on to be one of the most iconic works of the Surrealist movement, along with Dali’s “Persistence of Memory”. According to critics, it is an account of the human subconscious mind. One of the main features of the Painting is the Harlequin, which at first glance, is hard to spot.Harlequins are mute characters usually dressed in diamond-pattern costumes, in traditional comedy and pantomime. He has a sad face with a long moustache, and a guitar for his body. The hole in the guitar is most likely a representation of Miro’s economic crisis, which he was suffering from during the time he created this artwork.