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Works by Joan Miro are to be displayed at the Tate Modern, the first time a major retrospective of the artist has been held in nearly 50 years.

The Ladder of Escape, which opens in April next year, will bring together over 150 of the Spanish surrealist's pieces from all over the world.

Miro's "dream" paintings and experimental techniques were an influence on abstract expressionism.

Tate Modern said his work was noted "for its serene, colourful allure".

Among the work that will be displayed will be a painting once owned by US novelist Ernest Hemingway.

The exhibition will also look at Miro's "varying degrees of engagement over his lifetime".

Meanwhile, a show by Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte has been scheduled for Tate Liverpool, and a major watercolour exhibition is to be shown at Tate Britain.

Works by JMW Turner, William Blake and Tracey Emin will be displayed alongside historic watercolours by amateur artists, who used the medium to document and record historical landscapes.

The forthcoming shows were announced during the annual Tate report at the Tate Britain gallery.

Speaking at the event, Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota said he was confident that the government would "look again" at planned cuts to arts funding once their potential impact became apparent.

"We are confident that when they look and see what the impact might be that they will look again at certainly some of the extreme streams that have been speculated on," he said.