The Smile of a Tear by Joan Miró

At first glance, one notices the curvy horizontal line that cuts across the middle, separating the top and bottom of the painting as two distinct entities. The colors and compositions of the top and bottom parts are vastly different; the top has a light background, centered around a circular/half-moon shape in bright blue, while the bottom half has darker, more intense colors, and is much more crowded. Miró uses this juxtaposition to illustrate the theme of his piece, "The Smile of a Tear," in which two seemingly contradictory symbols somehow come together in harmony. Visually, Miró achieves this harmony through the black tear. The tear lies on the upper part of the painting, but seems to be resting on the horizontal line separating the piece. Moreover, the color black of the tear creates the final link between top and bottom. The unity of the composition is finally obtained, as if implying that there is merely a thin line between smiles and tears.