An unexpected connection between the exceptional artist Joan Miró and the most famous extraterrestrial in the world.
Should you be one of those people for whom the movie “E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial” belongs to the sacrosanct body of fairytales from your childhood you might be advised not to read this article as it could forever alter your image of the movie and the lovable figure. We tend to associate the artist Joan Miró, whose large-format works are currently on display in the SCHIRN, with classical Modernism and terms such as “advanced civilization” or “avant-garde”. Quite unlike, say, his Surrealist colleague Salvador Dalí, who engaged in a colorful liaison with Pop culture and worked, among other things, with the Disney studios.
Now someone is claiming that one of Miró’s spectacular large-format paintings, which can be seen in the exhibition in the SCHIRN, actually inspired one of the most famous figures in Pop culture, namely E. T. American film expert Prof. Dr. Louis Brookman approached us with this bold theory several weeks ago. And as Brookman is considered an outstanding scholar with excellent connections in Hollywood, we did not want to miss the chance to follow up on this linkage. We spoke to Professor Brookman about his strange discovery in an exclusive interview:
Schirn Magazine: Mr. Brookman, we still can’t believe it. Please explain your theory for us again in a few words.
Louis Brookman: My theory is that Steven Spielberg’s movie “E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial” is a kind of adaptation of his own childhood, and the figure of the extraterrestrial stems from that time, specifically from a painting by Joan Miró that Spielberg saw in the Guggenheim in New York.
SM: What makes you think that?
LB: Actually, I happened upon this story by chance: I was at an Oscar party, it must have been in 2000, and was lucky enough to meet Drew Barrymore. As you know she is Steven Spielberg’s godchild and had her first big role in E.T. Anyway, we got talking and she alluded something of the kind. Then the idea was suddenly there.
Drew Barrimore in "E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial", Image mynewsdesk.com
SM: And what happened then?
LB: As soon as I got home I started to research the matter. As a film expert you make that kind of discovery once in your lifetime at most. And just imagine: In a Miró painting on show in the Guggenheim in New York I came upon a figure with a strong resemblance to E.T. I was immediately convinced that this could not be a coincidence: The long neck, the big eyes, the unshapely body, the thin fingers thickened at the ends … it was more than obvious!
SM: Are you sure Spielberg knew this painting?
LB: For a long time Spielberg refused to comment on the subject, which was for me, by the way, proof that my theory was right. You can read everywhere that he spent a large part of his childhood in New Jersey, which you must admit is not far from New York. I am convinced he visited the Guggenheim several times with his mother back then. Incidentally, it is also a known fact that the family home in his film is modeled on his parents’ house and that the extra-terrestrial reflects the kind of imaginary friend Spielberg would have liked to have in his own childhood. The fact that Spielberg knows how to deal with art history is also quite evident in the movie poster for the film, which includes Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” in the Sistine Chapel.
SM: If you found all this out over ten years ago, why have you waited so long to make it public?
LB: There were several reasons: First of all, I did try earlier, albeit among other film experts. Unfortunately, there did not seem to be a great deal of interest there in a connection to the fine arts. Moreover, I don’t want to destroy any illusions: Spielberg always made a big secret out of the figure of E.T., for example; after filming he always had all the puppets destroyed to make E.T. appear more real. But meanwhile I believe enough time has passed under the bridge and we therefore don’t mind as much having this myth shattered. After all, there is also something attractive about the theory.
SM: Do you like Miró’s art yourself?
LB: Naturally, as a film expert my passion is for film. Nonetheless, I have to say that I have got to know the artist much better through my discovery. It might sound a bit trite in this context, but I sometimes have the impression his art is not of this world. That’s Surrealism (laughs).
SM: Do you think Miró would have watched “E.T.?” Would he have enjoyed the film?
LB: I don’t know. Possibly. Incidentally, Miró would have been able to see the movie, it first screened in Spain in December 1982, exactly one year before his death.
SM: Thank you very much for talking to us Mr. Brookman.
