James Gibbons writes about the link between Miró’s politics and the experimental nature of his paintings as seen in the exhibition Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape is on view at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. through August 12, 2012.

"Seeking to understand the politics of Miró’s art, as the Ladder of Escape exhibition asks us to do, we discern Miró searching for unexpected means to confront, or sometimes simply to cope with, the difficult realities of Spain during the civil war and Franco’s dictatorship… the broad scope of Miró’s politics, which is often indistinguishable from his ethos of exploration, restlessness, invention, and rebelliousness as an artist, the latter quality most famously captured in his remark 'I want to assassinate painting.' And to do so by painting: Miró was always committed to keeping open varying possibilities, often in tension with each other. This is why we can speak of his art’s freedom and vitality without these words sounding like platitudes."