Amid the rolling green hills of northern England, in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, one of Spanish artist Joan Miró's dreams has been fulfilled - to display his sculptures out in the open countryside.
The Miró exhibition, which opens on Saturday, brings together hundreds of sculptures by the Catalan artist from all over the world, in the UK's first homage to this facet of the surrealist genius' work.
The work of Miró (1893-1983), who once expressed his wish to see his sculptures confused with trees, rocks, roots, plants and flowers - is divided into two parts: an outside exhibition, where his sculptures will be exposed to the infamous British cold and damp, and an inside exhibition that displays some of his many paintings.
"I was surprised to discover a poetic side to him in his bronzes. These magnificent gardens, along with the galleries that allow a dialogue between sculptures and paintings, give a new dimension to his work and convey a sense of freedom and utopia" said Joan Punyet, grandson of the artist.
Miró's rough bronze figures, grey in the morning mist, but radiant in the midday sun, bring a touch of surrealism to the lush, green hills of the Yorkshire landscape.
"He was one of the greatest artists of his generation, but I think many Britons just don't understand him. In this exhibition we want to explain Miró's art, so that others can appreciate his talent as a sculptor, which was fantastic. Many people will be surprised" said Peter Murray, director of the park.
Much admired for his surrealist paintings, Miró as a sculptor has gone almost unnoticed in Britain, despite the fact that he created more than 400 sculptures, and that from the 1960's, he devoted himself mainly to sculpture.
This exhibition aims to do justice to this aspect of Miró's work and contains some of his most important works, such as Monument to a Woman (1970), Woman and Bird (1982), Moon Bird (1966), Escaping Girl (1967) or the Caress of a Bird (1967), brought in from Barcelona, Mallorca and Paris for the occasion.
The enigmatic sculpture Gothic Character (1967), stands on top of a hill, allowing Miró's work to dominate the typical English landscape that once inspired, among others, artists like David Hockney and Henry Moore.
"We are in England, in the country of Henry Moore, leaden colour and subdued lighting. But Miró's work has grasped the roots of this landscape and has given it a Mediterranean light," said the artist's grandson.
"The exhibition is a dream come true for the Yorkshire sculpture. The whole ensemble comes together beautifully. The balance between nature, art and the interior is perfect," said Murray.
"It would be difficult to find a finer exhibition. For the combination of the works and the features of the museum," said Emilio Fernández, another of the artist's grandchildren who attended today's press presentation.
Covering some 400 hectares of land, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which was opened in 1977, was the first permanent park of its kind in the UK and is visited by about 350,000 people every year.
