Estudi Taller Carles Fontserè artist’s studio, in the municipality of Porqueres in the Pla de l’Estany region, is home to a significant part of the legacy of one of the most representative Catalan artists of the 20th century.
Carles Fontserè i Carrió (1916–2007) enjoyed a wide-ranging career in fields such as painting, drawing, writing and set design, but he was particularly noted for his poster design, illustration and photography.
The Spanish Civil War had a profound impact on his life and work. He began working as a poster illustrator for the Propaganda Commission of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Regional Government). His loyalty to the Republican cause led him into exile in France, Mexico and New York, where he continued to pursue a successful artistic career. At the Casal Català of New York (Catalan Society), he met and married Terry Broch, a publicist whose father was Catalan and mother Valencian. Broch was instrumental in the development of Fontserè’s artistic career and in promoting his work.
In 1973, they returned to Catalonia and took up residence at the Can Tista i Montguix estate, turning it into their studio. The workshop-studio, located at Can Montguix, is open to the public. It is a creative environment with an open and functional layout, designed to accommodate Fontserè's various artistic disciplines. There are spaces dedicated to painting and archival materials, as well as a library and a studio, where visitors can view personal belongings, photographs and pieces of art that offer an insight into his life.
Thanks to the donation of his estate to the Generalitat de Catalunya in 1994, Estudi Taller Carles Fontserè is now a place where you can learn about the life and work of a key artist of the second half of the 20th century and delve into his creative world. Furthermore, since Terry Broch’s death in 2016, the centre has been managed by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Pavellons de la Finca Güell marked the beginning of one of the longest-lasting and most fruitful patronage relationships in 20th-century Catalan art, between Antoni Gaudí and Eusebi Güell. Built between 1884 and 1887 on Avinguda de Pedralbes, these buildings form part of the monumental entrance to the Güell family’s summer estate, which no longer exists. The architect designed the gardens, the perimeter wall, the entrance gates and two pavilion buildings intended to serve as the entrance lodge and the stables. Pavellons Güell have been a National Historic-Artistic Monument since 1969.
The most iconic feature of the site is the large wrought-iron gate at the main entrance, shaped like a dragon. Like the one described by Jacint Verdaguer in his poem L'Atlàntida, this dragon represents the guardian of the mythical Garden of the Hesperides. Over time, this figure has become one of the most recognisable images in Gaudí’s world.
Two pavilions have been preserved within the grounds. On one side is a small but imposing gatehouse, whose octagonal plan, lantern-topped dome and combination of brick, stone and ceramic make it stand out. On the other side, in the stables, there is a structure featuring parabolic arches and a Catalan vault, and a riding arena topped by a circular dome. The roofs, covered with a primitive trencadís technique, and the richly ornamented façade foreshadow features that Gaudí would develop in later projects.
Not only did this early work impress Eusebi Güell, but it also laid the foundations for a unique and distinctive architectural language. Gaudí experimented with forms and material structures on the Pavellons Güell that would later become distinctive features of his work.
Porta de la Finca Miralles is one of Antoni Gaudí’s lesser-known works in Barcelona. It was built in 1901 on Passeig de Manuel Girona and formed part of the perimeter wall of industrialist Hermenegild Miralles’ estate, a property that no longer exists.
Only the entrance gate and a section of the wall remain from the original complex. The entrance gate is built of stone and finished with white trencadís and a wrought-iron railing that imitates reptile skin. The gateway features a large leaf-shaped arch surrounded by undulating shapes that appear to flow as if they were organic. The entrance is adorned with a distinctive three-dimensional wrought-iron cross. To one side, a smaller gate with its original railing has also been preserved.
Today, the gateway leads onto the quiet Carrer Francesc Carbonell street and has become a fully integrated part of the neighbourhood’s urban landscape. The site was restored in 2000 and also features a sculpture of Antoni Gaudí, by Joaquim Camps, which commemorates the architect’s legacy here.
English translation unavailable for Museu del Barroc.
English translation unavailable for Museu del Renaixement.
A white house beneath an intense blue sky, the chicken coop in the background, farm tools, vegetation and life all around. This is how
Joan Miró portrays Mas Miró in oil, the place where he made the decision to devote his life fully to painting.
Although the painter was born in Barcelona and died in Palma, he spent long periods in the family home, located on the outskirts of
Mont-roig del Camp. It is here that he allowed himself to be captivated by rural life and established his bond with the Catalan countryside, which would forever mark the character of the artist and, in turn, his work as a painter.
Mas Miró comprises the set of satellite buildings around a farmhouse in the colonial-style, built at different times between the 18th and 20th centuries. The
visit to the complex, listed as a Cultural Asset of National Interest, allows you to enter the artist's studio, discover his sketches and materials, tour the garden in which the chicken coop, the chapel, the agricultural land and the farmyard are preserved.
A walk through this environment – taking advantage, if you wish, of the activities offered by the Mas Miró Foundation - is the ideal experience in which to discover the cradle of the symbolic style that today we all recognize as belonging to Miró and which made him into one of the most important painters of the 20th century.
The chance to stroll through the original magnificent interior of a modernista mansion all comes down to the buildings. One of the best preserved is Casa Navàs in Reus.
On the corner, flanking Plaça del Mercadal, is the boutique house of the Navàs-Blasco family, one of the most luxurious works designed by the architect
Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The facade of the building remains majestic despite having been damaged during the bombings of the Civil War. The real treasure, however, is to be found in the interior rooms that will amaze lovers of
Modernisme. Craftsmanship of the highest level can be found in every corner of the house: coloured stained glass windows, wall paintings, ceramics with floral motifs, silk tapestries and furniture produced by the most renowned cabinetmakers of the time.
The sumptuousness of the space already gives an idea of the economic wealth of its owners, major textile merchants, as well as the importance of Reus as the second Catalan capital.
The collection of rock paintings in the
Muntanyes de Prades is made up of
around forty archaeological sites, only three of which are open to visitors:
Portell dels Lletres, Mas d'en Llort and
Mas d'en Ramon d'en Bessó.
The compositions and
pictorial scenes preserved here show
hunters and wild animals such as goats, deer, bovines, or wild boars, as well as herders with domesticated animals and a large number of
abstract signs and symbols. They depict the transition from
hunting and gathering (simpler language) to
agriculture (more complex language).
This may also have been a
space for solar worship: in addition to the hunting scenes, we can see depictions of honey harvesting and sunsets.
In order to facilitate the interpretation of all these paintings, the
Rock Art Interpretation Centre of the Mountains of Prades was created in
Montblanc. It presents a significant sample of these
prehistoric images as well as an
exhibit with
full-sized reconstructions of the rock shelters where they are found.
The rock paintings of El Cocó de la Gralla, which are over 8,000 years old, were discovered in 2004 by a local, but the authorities were not informed of their existence until ten years later.
These paintings are found in the nature park of Els Ports, in the ravine of Montpou in the municipality of Mas de Barberans (Montsià). An extraordinary find, they show a type of figure not documented in Catalonia until 2018.
This set of paintings shows 69 figures in the Eastern Iberian or naturalist style, including 27 archers, 4 human figures and 3 goats. Some are depicted wearing ornaments such as feathers. Especially noteworthy are two rows of running archers, as well as a number of animals and footprints, which make up a possible hunting scene. These figures make this one of the most exceptional collections of rock art in Catalonia.
The town of Capçanes, in the Priorat region, houses the largest collection of rock paintings in Catalonia. This includes a total of 19 pieces in two ravines: the Barranc de la Vall and the Barranc de Parellada. One of the most important pieces is ‘The Sacrifice’, a mural with 27 figures showing a human sacrifice, a rarity in Eastern Iberian art that makes the site a unique find.
Among the more than 150 human and animal figures depicted, a large 54-cm bull stands out. It is one of the largest registered pieces of rock art, along with three carvings of deer on the rock overhang. This is the first collection of paintings found on an overhang in Catalonia. They date from a period when rock art was not common in the region, and it may therefore be one of the oldest pieces of rock art in Catalonia.
