Joan Miro's name is pronounced hoän mro.
Joan Miro (1893-1983) was a Spanish painter and sculptor who produced vivid abstract and surrealistic works of art during much of the 1900s.
Miro was born on April 20, 1893, in Montroig, Spain, which is near the city of Barcelona. His father was a goldsmith and watchmaker.
In 1919, he traveled to Paris, France, which was then the center of the art world. He was friends with many surrealist and abstract painters, including Pablo Picasso, Andre Masson and Max Ernst. In France, Miro developed his individualistic and recognizable style and eventually became famous. 
After Miro returned to Spain in 1940, he lived mostly in Majorca. He painted, sculpted, worked in ceramics, produced many mosaics and murals, and illustrated over 300 books. Miro lived to be 90 years old, dying on December 25, 1983.
First grade students learned about the surrealistic art movement by examining some of Miro's works. We played a fun game called "Roll a Miro" that provided students with fun Miro inspired shape options that allowed them to piece together a creature not unlike those found in Miro's whimsical artworks.
