His Most Famous Painting (Harlequin's Carnival) - Joan Miro

Geertruydt Roghman 1625 - ?
A Dutch engraver and etcher, many of her works are famous for their simple depiction of women going about their everyday tasks, sowing, weaving and spinning.

Mary Beale 1632 - 1697
One of the few English painters of the period, she was born in Barrow, Suffolk. Her father, a clergyman and husband a merchant were both amateur painters. She was famous as a portrait painter and also art teacher.

Elisabetta Sirani 1638 - 1665
Sirani was a multi-talented individual, born in Bologna and an accomplished painter, poet, musician and daughter of painter Giovanni Andrea Sirani. Her subjects were traditionally large scale religious or historical paintings. She sadly died prematurely at the age of 27 but with her rapid style of painting, she still managed to produce over 200 works of art.

A small collection of artists considering they cover 250 years of creativity but their establishment led to many others being freely admitted into the ranks of the artist, allowed to participate in life studies and openly learn their trade, while also being welcomed into the artists guilds.

The acclaimed painting, "Harlequin's Carnival (Spanish: Le Carnaval d'Arlequin)," interpreted as an elucidation of the human subconscious mind, was a masterpiece by the famous Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramist Joan Miro (1893-1983). Modest and secluded in nature, Joan was the son of an affluent Goldsmith. Created during 1924-25, "Harlequin's Carnival" measures 66cm x 93 cm. This oil painting on canvas, conceived in France, well represents 'Surrealism,' the preferred style of the painter. Being magnificently unconventional, "Harlequin's Carnival" has ever attracted criticism from the art experts for not conforming to the customary eloquence of artistry.

The carnival shown in "Harlequin's Carnival" is a merry making festival, a period of revelry that concludes before the Ash Wednesday in the Christian Calendar. The end of the carnival marks the beginning of the season of LENT, commemorating the Passion of Christ through individual sacrifices for the next forty days. At the carnival, people celebrate by disguising themselves into funny characters and objects called floats and move around the place, entertaining others, and building a pleasant, festive ambience. Joan Miro depicts many enthusiastic and colorful characters in "Harlequin's Carnival" as an unprecedented collection, with most of the images and shapes created probably with a frolicsome frame of mind.

The central character of the painting, Harlequin, is a person who wears a mask or disguise for fun. The painting brings forth the hidden expression of a man imagining himself amongst an entertaining and joyfully spirited environment. Some of the other prominent characters of "Harlequin's Carnival" are two cats sharing the same piece of wool for play and an inquisitive sun peeping through the window. There are similar looking musical notes flowing next to a violin. A yellow masked tall man is shown at the centre and a man disguised as a guitar, seen next to him. The feet of this man are quite visible, as he stands next to the dice, where a busy insect is seated. There is a ladder on the left of the painting and atop are two human shapes swaying in the gentle breeze, enjoying themselves in an imaginative trapeze form. A man with two colored, red and blue, face with a long moustache is shown and you can also see a fish on the table. Several other unidentified images are there in "Harlequin's Carnival," as a part of the festival mood.