Joan Prats was a Catalan

Catalan people

The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...

 art promoter and a close friend of Joan Miro

Joan Miró

Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...

Life

Joan Prats was born in 1891 to a family who sold hats. He was trained as an artist in the Llotja School

Escola de la Llotja

The Escola de la Llotja , officially the Escola d'Arts i Oficis de Barcelona , is an art and design school located in Barcelona, Spain. The school took its name from its initial location in the Llotja de Mar palace; it was moved in 1967 to its current location at 17 Ciutat de Balaguer Street...

, where he first met Joan Miró

Joan Miró

Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...

 who was also training there.

Prats organised exhibitions for leading Iberian artists such Salvador Dali

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

, Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...

, Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...

 and his good friend Miró. He was also associated with Paul Klee

Paul Klee

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...

, Max Ernst

Max Ernst

Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...

, Josep Vicenç Foix

Josep Vicenç Foix

Josep Vicenç Foix i Mas was a Catalan poet, writer, and essayist. He usually signed his work by using the abbreviation J.V. Foix.- Biography :...

 and Joan Brossa

Joan Brossa

Joan Brossa i Cuervo Joan Brossa i Cuervo Joan Brossa i Cuervo (Barcelona, Catalonia,(1919–1998) was a Catalan poet in the Catalan language, playwright, graphic designer and plastic artist. He was one of the founders of both the group and the publication known as Dau-al-Set (1948) and one of the...

.

Prats together with Josep Lluis Sert

Josep Lluís Sert

Josep Lluís Sert i López was a Spanish Catalan architect and city planner.- Biography :Born in Barcelona, he showed keen interest in the works of his painter uncle Josep Maria Sert and of Gaudí. He studied architecture at the Escola Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona and set up his own studio...

 and Joaquim Gomis founded the artistic group ADLAN.

Miró formed his foundation with Prats, this foundation eventually led to the gallery in Barcelona known as Fundació Joan Miró

Fundació Joan Miró

The ' is a museum of modern art honoring Joan Miró and located on the hill called Montjuïc in Barcelona, Catalonia.-History:...

. Prats admired Miro's ability to make things from found object

Found object

A found object, in an artistic sense, indicates the use of an object which has not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which exists for another purpose already. Found objects may exist either as utilitarian, manufactured items, or things which occur in nature...

s like those in The Caress of a Bird

The Caress of a Bird

The Caress of a Bird is a 1967 sculpture by Joan Miró made at his studio in Palma de Mallorca. It is part of the permanent collection of the Miró Foundation in Barcelona.-History:...

. Prats said: "When I take a stone, it is just a stone. When I grab a stone, it is a Miro."

Source

• AA.DD.. The golden book of Catalan art. Ediciones Primera Plana, Barcelona, 1997.
• Clavero, J. George. Foundation. Guide to the Foundation. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafa, 2010. DL B.10.061.2010. ISBN 978-84-343-1242-5 .