Jaime Mir

Jaume Mir Ramis (Felanitx, 1915 – Palma, 2012) is one of the great Balearic sculptors of the 20th century. Son of a master bricklayer, he left school at the age of eight to work with his father; his vocation was born in 1929 carving the monument to Christ the King of the hermitage of Sant Salvador, in Felanitx.

In 1934, he received a scholarship from the Provincial Council of the Balearic Islands to study at the Superior School of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, where he graduated in 1940 with honors and an extraordinary end-of-degree award. His profound studies in anatomy gave him an exceptional command of the human body, an unmistakable hallmark of his work in bronze and stone.

He worked on historical and mythological figures from the Balearic Islands —the sling thrower (es foner), Ramon Llull, Joanot Colom, Guillem Sagrera— and the humble trades of the island. He directed the School of Arts and Crafts of Palma and presided over the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Among his recognitions: the Gold Medal of the Círculo de Bellas Artes (1992), the Ramon Llull Award (1998) and the Gold Medal of the City of Palma (2001). His 1998 retrospective gathered 30,000 visitors.