Professionals

Designed by the artist and engineer Miquel Utrillo between 1910 and 1918, the Maricel Palace became, from its very opening, a classic of the Noucentista style. Currently, the complex maintains its great artistic and architectural value intact and has become one of the most emblematic buildings in Sitges.

This monumental complex, inspired by the beauty of the ancient and modern folk art, was commissioned by the American magnate, collector and philanthropist Charles Deering (1852-1927), who wanted a residential building in which to house his magnificent collection of Hispanic art. With the reform of the old Hospital de Sant Joan and the subsequent annexation of several fishermen's houses on Carrer Fonollar, Utrillo built an exceptional ensemble which received the praise of artists and intellectuals of the time. For Joaquim Folch i Torres, the Maricel Palace was "the fruit of the culmination of modern Catalan civilisation".

With austere lines and respecting the characteristic white colour of the area, the exterior of the Palace has several terraces decorated with local ceramics and projecting above is the tower of Sant Miquel. It is crowned by a series of battlements and the façade has a Gothic sculpture of the Saint which came from the bridge in Balaguer. Throughout the building there is the characteristic emblem of the sun in red rising over the blue of the sea, the symbol of the palace designed by Utrillo himself.

Inside, the Palace is arranged around the Gold Room, the Blue Room, the Chapel Room, the Ship’s Room and the cloister – which offers a wonderful panoramic view of the Mediterranean. Of the decoration, notable items include the sculptural elements by Pere Jou and the murals in the entrance hall by Josep M. Sert, inspired by the Great War. The complex is completed with various artistic elements that combine aesthetics and functionality, the work of numerous local artisans.

Disagreements between Deering and Utrillo meant the end of the initial Maricel Palace project. However, with the recent restoration of the architectural and conceptual whole and the reorganisation of the museum collection by the Maricel Museum, this extraordinary complex has had its vocation restored as a place dedicated to the arts, heritage and culture.

Jacint Verdaguer, author of L'Atlàntida and Canigó, and one of the great architects of the revival of Catalan as a literary language, lived part of his childhood in the current Verdaguer House-Museum in Folgueroles. Opened in 1967, it is one of the oldest literary museums in Catalonia.

The house is from the 17th century and is divided into ground floor (originally intended for the agricultural tools), first floor, attic and a courtyard at the rear. It is located at 7, Carrer Major in Folgueroles, next to Cal Doctor (no. 9). When the young Verdaguer lived there, the two houses formed a single building.

The project dates back to the early 20th century, when the idea arose of creating a museum in Folgueroles dedicated to the memory of Verdaguer. The collection - brought together by the Association Amics de Verdaguer (Friends of Verdaguer Association) with the advice of Eduard Junyent and Josep M. Garrut (curators of the MEV - Epsicopal Museum of Vic, and the MHCB - Barcelona City History Museum, respectively) - is arranged into three sections: biographical, with items that belonged to the poet; ethnographical, with various objects of everyday life (on the first floor, the domestic rooms of a mid-19th century house have been preserved); and the artistic, with pieces by artists such as Duran fields, Pahissa and Perejaume. Preserved in the library, are some 800 items among which are books, periodicals, graphical, sound and audiovisual materials.

Joan Maragall was one of the leading figures of modernista poetry, though he also wrote prose. He produced more than 450 texts, including articles, essays, speeches, biographical sketches and prologues. The whole of his documentary legacy is in the Joan Maragall Archive, a documentation centre located in his final residence, in the district of Sant Gervasi in Barcelona.  Currently this building also serves as a House-Museum, allowing one to see the most intimate sides of one of the great names of the Catalan Renaixença.

The Joan Maragall Archive brings together a significant documentary collection about the figure and work of the poet and about Modernisme as a whole. It was founded in 1911, after the death of Maragall, at the behest of his widow. In 1993, the centre was given over to the Biblioteca de Catalunya (National Library of Catalonia).

Students of the work of Maragall will find a complete collection of manuscript works, among which there is extensive correspondence. The archive also maintains the personal library of the poet with a thousand volumes and has all of the editions of his works. In addition to the documentary collection itself, there is the library of criticism of the work of the writer, original scores of his poems, the iconographic collection and some 10,000 press clippings.

Although the building underwent modifications after its refurbishment in 1957, various objects of the poet and his family are preserved here. Visitors can tour the entrance hall, the great hall, the dining room, the study and two bedrooms, in which you will find the original furnishings, as well as photographs and works of art by modernista artists such as Rusiñol and Casas.

Stroll around the Artigas gardens of La Pobla de Lillet and invariably you will be reminded of Park Güell in Barcelona. This is because they are the work of the same mind: Antoni Gaudí.

In 1905, the modernista architect who, having stayed for a few days at the home of the textile industrial Joan Artigas i Alart, wanted to thank him for his hospitality by designing a naturalistic garden for an area (known as the Font de la Magnèsia) which was next to his factory, on the banks of the river Llobregat. Thus, it is as though it copied – on a small scale – the fundamentals of Park Güell, where he was working at that time. In this case, however, it is not an urban garden. Gone, therefore, are the great open spaces and colourful ceramic tile shards or trencadis. Everything is made largely with rocky stone and mortar, taking advantage of the vegetation of the area. It is as though the park had pushed its way between nature.

Along the route the visitor will find a waterfall; an artificial cave with catenary arches from where the Font de la Magnèsia gushes forth; fountains; two stone bridges; a square; and, at the highest point, the Glorieta or gazebo, which acts as a lookout point.

Gaudí's universe is present in every detail of the complex. Jardinières, handrails, benches ... Everything imitates the forms of a fanciful nature. Nor does it lack Christian references: thus there are the sculptures of the eagle, the lion and the bull, distributed around the complex, together with an angel that has now gone, which are the symbols of the four evangelists and are arranged in the shape of a cross on the plan of the garden.

While the Casa Batlló shows the excessive imagination of Gaudí and the Casa Amatller is a brilliant reinterpretation of the Gothic style by Puig i Cadafalch, the third element of Barcelona’s Mansana de la Discordia (Block of Discord), Casa Lleó i Morera, represents the elegance of details. Working on the building were the forty best craftsmen of the period, following the orders of Lluís Domènech i Montaner.

In 1902, Francesca Morera commissioned the modernist architect to remodel the property she had inherited on the Eixample. When the owner died, the work was continued by her son Albert Lleó i Morera, who gave his name to the building. In fact, allusions to the family surname are repeated in the images that decorate the building throughout.

Domènech i Montaner added a floor and a tempietto on the roof. This tower, in line with the main floor balcony, simulates a non-existent symmetry in the building. Especially notable in the richly decorated façade, are the female figures by Eusebi Arnau. The most significant example are those on the first floor balconies where there are four women who carry allegorical instruments of modernity in their hands - photography, electricity, the phonograph and telephone.
Once inside the building, both the lobby and the entrance hall of the main floor are designed to impress the visitor. In the latter, the arches and doorways have spectacular carved reliefs. One of them is the story of the lullaby, La dida de l’infant rei (the Nurse of the Infant King), a tribute to the son of the owners who died as a newborn.

Much of the work of Domènech i Montaner’s team of artisans is concentrated in the two large living rooms. Notable are the stained glass windows: eight panels of mosaic and porcelain reliefs depict rural scenes with characters from the family. The furniture and dado panels that were in these rooms are preserved in the MNAC (National Art Museum of Catalonia).

The Casa Lleó i Morera, like other bourgeois properties, was a "house for rent" (the family of the owners lived on the main floor and the remaining floors were rented out). Even so, the desire was that the same exacting building standards and aesthetic quality should be maintained over all the floors.

Catalonia, overcoming the phylloxera crisis, was seeking new ways of organising the economic and social interests in the field of agriculture. Thus, the beginning of the 20th century saw the birth of agricultural co-operativism and associationism and, alongside this, the construction of modern and functional wineries that responded to the fashionable aesthetic (the late-Modernisme and Noucentisme).

In 1919, the Sindicat de Cooperació Agrària de Gandesa (Gandesa Union of Agricultural Cooperation), commissioned the architect Cèsar Martinell, who had already designed other "wine cathedrals" such as that at Pinell de Brai, to design its cooperative winery and oil mill. Although the building incorporated all the latest techniques and the division of space usually found in the work of Martinell, this construction is one of the most original of his agricultural works.

Its principal uniqueness is in not adopting the basilical floor plan. It is formed by a main body divided into three parallel naves of different heights, and two further naves placed transversally.

Nor were wooden crossbeams chosen for the support, since this material had become expensive following the First World War. As an alternative, Martinell designed a roof using a four-pointed Catalan vault which allowed small triangular openings to be created, strongly resembling the undulating structure of the Aymerich factory in Terrassa.

On the exterior, there is no main façade, but rather each side is treated in the same way. It is presided over by two water tanks, which rise as small and stylised towers. As a decorative element, we find glazed, green tiles which contrast with the Mediterranean white of the walls.

Joan Brossa (1919-1998) was a restless artist, one who was interested in various artistic disciplines. While it is true that he was a poet, he was not limited to the classical forms and worked with visual poems, object poems and urban poems. In addition, this hard-to-catalogue, avant-garde artist worked in a multitude of disciplines: music, theatre, film, and even magic. However, he remained virtually unknown until 1970, when he published Poesia rasa.

The opening salvo of his career came in 1948, when he participated in the founding of the legendary Dau al Set magazine, a publication that involved Surrealism being fully adopted into the artistic and literary terrain. The book Romanços del dragolí (1948) comes from this period, a work which embodied his irony and humour. He also began to write for the stage along Dadaist lines, as well as two screenplays and even a ballet.

In the 1950s, Brossa's poetry increasingly reflected the social issues, political reportage and Marxist theory. The results of this change in direction were the publications Em va fer Joan Brossa (1950), Catalunya i selva (1953) and the ten books of sapphic odes. His theatre was equally committed, with popular forms such as the 'quadre de costumes' (sketches of manners): Cortina de muralles and Or i sal are examples of these.

From the 1960s, the visual became increasingly important in the work of Brossa. The poet manipulated objects to represent the concept (visual poems). And thus, collaboration with visual artists became inevitable. He worked with Antoni Tàpies and Joan Miró. However, Brossa never stopped writing poetry. His Els entra-i-surts del poeta. Roda de llibres (1969-75), short and playful poems, are from this period.

It was after the death of Franco that the popularity of the artist grew unceasingly: awards and honours, a retrospective exhibition at the Joan Miró Foundation and wide international exposure. His work began to have a physical presence in Barcelona, with some visual poems made concrete, such as Barcino (1991-1994), in front of the Cathedral of Barcelona, and also with the opening of the Brossa Espai Escènic creation space.

The artist always tried to ensure that his lyricism remained grounded. Frankness, irony and even sarcasm were some of the tools he used to achieve this. After his death his legacy passed to the Joan Brossa Foundation, the custody of which was given over to MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art).

Since 2004, the Masia de Can Serra in Sant Adrià de Besòs has housed the History of Immigration in Catalonia Museum (Museu d'història de la immigració de Catalunya - MhiC) which acts as a centre for research and dissemination of the memory of migration in Catalonia. In doing so, the Museum offers a permanent exhibition divided into three areas using modern, interactive and educational museum resources.

The Humans in Movement area shows the historical trends in human movement from prehistoric times until the 20th century. The visit continues inside an old railway carriage from the mid-20th century: the Sevillano. This space pays tribute to the generation of internal migrations to Catalonia in the 20th century. It also includes testimonies and memories of those who were passengers. The last area presents migrations of the 21st century, which take place in a globalised world in continuous transformation.

The MhiC also has a documentation and resource centre. Forming part of the collection are the oral memory questionnaires that those who have taken part in the migratory processes can fill out.

From the 1960s, the Diputació (Provincial Council) of Tarragona had been acquiring a significant artistic collection which was not open for public viewing. So, in 1976, they created the Museum of Modern Art, whose purpose was to promote the study and knowledge of the modern and contemporary art and, at the same time, to preserve and display these collections.

The original location chosen was Casa Martí, an 18th century stately home located in the upper part of Tarragona. In 2008, the museum renewed its permanent exhibition and opened a new, more modern and educational museum project.

The museum devotes some rooms to the Taller - Escola de Pintura i Escultura (Workshop - School of Painting and Sculpture) which the Republican Government built in Tarragona and the subsequent Escola Taller d’Art de la Diputació de Tarragona (Workshop and School of Art of the Provincial Council of Tarragona). Also exhibited are works by contemporary artists of the 1980s from the region, such as Bruno Gallart or James Solé.

One of the most important collections of the museum is the legacy left by the sculptor Julio Antonio. In the permanent exhibition, you can see various facets of his work, placing emphasis on the Monument als Herois de 1811 (Monument to the Heroes of 1811), located on the Rambla Nova in Tarragona. Other representatives of the transition from the 19th century to the 20th century, such as Joseph Tapiró, are also on display.

However, the most renowned work in the Museum of Modern Art in Tarragona bears the signature of Joan Miró. This is the Tapís de Tarragona (Tapestry of Tarragona), a large-scale project that the painter made together with Josep Royo. In 1970, Miró gave this tapestry to the Hospital de la Cruz Roja in Tarragona, then directed by Rafael Orozco, in thanks for the care this doctor gave to his daughter. When the institution was closed down, the work was given over to the Museum where it occupies a place of honour.

Joan Brossa, poet, playwright and visual artist, was above all a lover of art in all its forms. He experimented with different genres and, throughout his life, accumulated lots of related documentation. Such were the mountains of papers and different materials accumulated in his first studio in Carrer Balmes that he had to rent a second studio to continue storing his "little treasures".

In 1999, a year after the death of the artist and following his wishes, the Fundació Joan Brossa (Joan Brossa Foundation) was created to safeguard his documentary legacy and to make it as widely known as possible, placing an emphasis on its interdisciplinary character. The Foundation promotes the research, editing, reissue, translation, representation, and exhibitions of the work of Brossa.

Among the Foundation's assets there is the library of Joan Brossa, made up of about 6,000 books, numerous magazines and exhibition catalogues. These are in addition to the personal archive of the poet, composed of about 52,000 documents of various types such as manuscripts of his artistic and literary work, facsimiles, galley proofs, correspondence, posters, press clippings, photographs, etc. Joan Brossa's art collection also belongs to the Foundation, among which there are his own works, as well as works by artists such as Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies.

In 2012, custody of the collection, the archive and the library was given over to MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art) to ensure its conservation and allow it to be made more widely-known. Three years later, the headquarters of the Foundation was moved - which had been in La Seca Espai Brossa - to the first floor of the MACBA Study Centre.