The participation of the main artists, musicians and writers of the 19th century in the activities that the artist Santiago Rusiñol organised at his home-studio in Sitges from 1893 has been turned into a veritable temple of Modernisme.
It was so named Cau (hideout), because they wanted it to be a haven for lovers of poetry, and Ferrat (Iron), because he had a collection of wrought iron that he had collected on his travels around Catalonia. The building is now the Cau Ferrat Museum, one of the main museums of the region of Garraf.
It brings together the collections of ancient and modern art put together by the Catalan artist and writer. Painting, drawing, sculpture, wrought iron, ceramics, glass and furniture form a unique artistic collection, which includes some of the sculptural work of Rusiñol, as well as artists such as Casas, Picasso, El Greco, R. Pichot, Mas i Fondevila, Zuloaga, Regoyos i Degouwe de Nucques, Enric Clarasó, Manolo Hugué and Pau Gargallo, among others.
The Cau Ferrat Museum building was refurbished between 2010 and 2014 in order to strengthen the structure and restore the original historic elements.
With more than 300 works, the Fundació Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona) has the most comprehensive collection of the Catalan artist, which reflects all the creative periods of the artist. Driven by Antoni Tàpies, the Foundation is a Museum and cultural centre that also works for the study and promotion of contemporary art.
Including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and books, it displays all aspects of Tàpies’ artistic activity. The collection includes a selection of drawings and portraits from the 1940s (Creu de paper de diari - Newsprint Cross), an important example of the matter works of the 1950s and 1960s (Forma negra sobre quadrat gris - Black form on grey square) and a significant representation of the object works of the late sixties and early seventies (Palla i fusta - Straw and wood).
The visitor will discover the different typologies, techniques and materials used by Tàpies: works made of rubber-foam and spray, varnishes and sculptures in refractory clay and objects and sculptures made with metallic plates or bronze.
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies is located in a modernista building designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. This construction is unique as it was the first in the Eixample district to combine the use of exposed brick and iron within the urban setting. Currently the building is crowned by the Núvol i cadira (Cloud and chair) sculpture by Tàpies himself, a work which has become a symbol of the Foundation.
In this small valley in the Pyrenees there are a group of exceptional churches and chapels which stand as both the cradle and the ultimate expression of Catalan Romanesque art. Declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2000, the Vall de Boí group comprise Sant Climent and Santa Maria in Taüll, Sant Joan in Boí, Santa Eulàlia in Erill la Vall, Sant Feliu in Barruera, Sant Quirc and Church of the Nativity in Durro, Santa Maria in Cardet and the Church of the Assumption in Coll. All the churches can be visited except for Sant Quirc in Durro, and the Church of the Assumption in Coll.
In the Lombard Romanesque style, the churches of the Vall de Boí are functional, simple temples with one or three naves, built with small granite ashlars. The roofs are wooden-beamed or barrel-vaulted. And these churches are the artistic reflection of an austere society, tied to the natural environment and strongly hierarchical.
The interiors of the churches were decorated with mural paintings and carvings. The hieratic figures (with images of the Virgin and the Saints and the dominant figure of the Pantocrator) and the play of colours characterise symbolic paintings of great creativity which represent one of the highest achievements of Romanesque art at an international level.
Since the late 19th century and into the early 20th century, this Romanesque group fascinated the intellectuals of the Catalan Renaixença. Josep Puig i Cadafalch, among others, and institutions such as the Institute of Catalan Studies contributed to the appreciation and preservation of the art of the Pyrenees.
Today, a good many of the paintings, carvings and furniture are kept in different museums, particularly in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC). Even so, many of the churches have important fragments of mural paintings and original Romanesque sculptures, as well as reproductions of those which are preserved in museums. In the case of Sant Climent de Taüll, a modern mapping recreates the original frescoes of the apse and offers an immersive experience of what it was like at the time of its creation. At the same time, a visit to this group of churches can be complemented with a visit to the Romanesque Centre of the Vall de Boí.
Devoted to the culture of the object, the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (Design Museum of Barcelona) offers visitors unique collections formed of more than 70,000 pieces which cover, in chronological order, items from the 4th century BC to the present day. The object and all that it means to society is the common denominator of all collections: from its conception, creation and production up to its use according to the period.
Contemplating many of the pieces of the museum is to return, often, to the everyday environment: the Montesa Impala motorcycle, the poster of the opening of the Camp Nou or the Olympic mascot Cobi, among many others, are objects that appeal directly to the sentimental memory of the spectator.
The vast wealth of the new museum in Barcelona is formed by the merger of the collections of the Museu de les Arts Decoratives (decorative arts), the Museu de Ceràmica (ceramics), the Museu Tèxtil i d'Indumentària (textiles and clothing), and the Gabinet de les Arts Gràfiques (graphic arts).
But if the content is outstanding, its container, the Museu del Disseny itself, is not far behind: the building, designed by the MBM team of architects and popularly known as the la grapadora (the stapler), is already a new icon of the contemporary architecture of the city.
There are several institutions and archives that preserve the photographic heritage of Catalonia. One of the most important collections is that of the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, with 750,000 images of hiking and mountaineering, but also featuring the artistic and architectural heritage and daily life throughout the country. For its volume and variety, also notable is the collection of the Institut d’Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya with nearly 800,000 photographs.
In the Biblioteca de Catalunya there are photographic documents 250,000 archived, ranging from the mid-19th century to the present day. One of the stand outs is the Josep Salvany collection with 10,000 images of Catalan landscapes and popular culture.
The history of photography, from its beginnings up to the more contemporary production, is what informs the collection of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, with 40,000 examples from notable photographers such as Pere Casas Abarca, Agustí Centelles, Pere Català Pic, Francesc Català Roca, Colita, Joan Fontcuberta, Pere Formiguera, Oriol Maspons, Kim Manresa, Josep Masana and Joan Colom. The MACBA also has, for example, the bequest of Xavier Miserachs.
And for its part, in the personal collections of the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya one can find works of photographers such as Josep Gaspar, els Brangulí, Gabriel Casas i Galobardes, Bert i Claret or Frederic Cuyàs.
Without forgetting its link with the traditional and popular festivals, the Fira de Teatre al Carrer de Tàrrega (Tàrrega Street Theatre Festival) has become a benchmark for its commitment to theatrical innovation and quality and is todayone of the most important European markets for the performing arts.
The success of the street shows that the Comediants company organised in 1980 was the seed of the Fira del Teatre al Carrer de Tàrrega which, just a year later, was turned into an annual event.
For the historian and theatre critic Xavier Fàbregas, one of the creators of the project, it was necessary to take back the street as a space for creative activities and at the same time renew the popular and traditional festivals. This is why the early shows were directly linked to popular culture.
With the creation of the Municipal Public Foundation Board and the department of programmers, and the commissioning of theatrical professionals for the artistic direction, the Fira del Teatre al Carrer de Tàrrega started to become professional and it turned itself into a national and international market for sales and recruitment for Catalan theatrical shows. It has always been noted for incorporating new trends and techniques and languages which are increasingly visual and contemporary.
From the early daguerreotype to current media and distribution channels, Catalan photography has been at the forefront of a revolution lasting a little less than two centuries.
Months after the daguerreotype appeared in France (1839), Ramon Alabern became the first Catalan to take pictures with this new invention. Soon after, photographers such as José Martínez Sánchez and Juan Martí, bore witness to the Industrial Revolution.
At the end of the 19th century, the first Catalan artistic photographers appeared (Joan Vilatobà, Miquel Renom and Pere Casas Abarca), approaching Symbolism and Impressionism, while the second generation followed Pictorialism (Joaquim Pla and Claudi Carbonell). The Avant-gardism also came to Catalan photography, and the work of professionals such as Pere Català Pic and Gabriel Casas meant an artistic and technical revolution.
It was not until the 1950s that tradition of documentary photography was reawoken. A new generation (Francesc Català Roca, Ramon Masats, Xavier Miserachs, Oriol Maspons, Joan Colom, Leopoldo Pomés, Colita and Eugeni Forcano) showed reality both critically and ironically.
In the seventies and eighties, the dissemination and cultural prestige of the photograph increased, finally reaching the museums. With the arrival of the digital era, its use was further democratised.
During the second half of the 20th century, Barcelona experienced the largest urban expansion in its history.
The "Barcelona model" was born in the eighties thanks to the collaboration of the democratic institutions and architects such as Oriol Bohigas. From this period are the Parc de l'Espanya Industrial (Peña i Rius) or the Moll de la Fusta (Solà-Morales).
But the pinnacle of Catalan urban planning started with the choice of Barcelona as the host city for the 1992 Olympic Games. La intervenció a l’anella olímpica de Montjuïc inclou la restauració de l’Estadi Olímpic i les Piscines Picornell i la construcció del Palau Sant Jordi (Isozaki). The Vila Olímpica (Martorell-Bohigas-Mackay) brought the city to the sea with the construction of the Port Olímpic. Other examples of Olympic architecture are the Torre de Collserola (Foster), the Montjuïc Communications Tower (Calatrava) or the Hotel Arts (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill).
With the Fòrum Universal de les Cultures (2004), the Diagonal was extended to the sea, and the Centre Internacional de Convencions (Mateo), the Forum Building (Herzog and de Meuron) and the large photovoltaic panel (Martínez Lapeña and Torres) were built.
As for post-Forum, highlights include the spectacular displays of authorial architecture such as the Torre Agbar (Nouvel) or the Edifici Gas Natural (Miralles and Tagliabue).
The Catalan journal Dau al Set (1948) and the artistic group of the same name are considered the most important manifestations of the post-war avant-garde.
The vast majority of its founding members (the poet and playwright Joan Brossa, the philosopher Arnau Puig and the painters Joan Ponç, Antoni Tàpies, Modest Cuixart and Joan-Josep Tharrats) lived in the same neighbourhood of Barcelona, and linked the disagreement with the repressive ideological situation and the limited creative possibilities of the period. They also shared a great creativity, sensitivity and sense of action.
The name of the magazine played with the idea of the impossible (Dau al Set meaning the seventh face of a dice that has only six), and expressed the intention of the group, located between the negation and confusion of Dadaism and the liberating creative expression of Surrealism.
The political circumstances hindered the desire of Dau al Set to influence the social environment, and the freedom of expression of its members was above all creative and artistic. As well, they fought to prevent the expressive forms established by the regime, they showed that repression can not stifle creativity and they were the triggers for new attitudes of free expression.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), artistic demonstrations in Catalonia adopted modern media such as posters and documentary photography.
The vehicle of slogans for awareness and mobilisation, posters stand out for their artistic creativity and techniques during this period.
Some of the most active poster artists were Josep Renau (Hoy más que nunca: Victoria), Martí Bas i Blasi (Feu tancs, tancs, tancs...), Jaume Solà (Unió és força), Lleó Arnau (Assassins!), Carles Fontserè (Llibertat!), Lorenzo Goñi (I tu... què has fet per la victòria?), Pere Català Pic (Aixafem el feixisme), Antoni Clavé (Catalans!... 11 de setembre), Lluís Garcia Falgàs (Informeu-vos dels que lluiten al front), Enrique Ballesteros "Henry" (Voy a luchar por tu porvenir) and Paco Ribera (Diada de la Dona Antifeixista).
Documentary photography offers a testimony of the reality both at the front and in the rearguard during the Civil War. Catalan photojournalists such as Agustí Centelles, Josep Maria Sagarra or Carlos Pérez de Rozas portrayed the daily life of the conflict side-by-side with the foreign professionals such as Robert Capa or Gerda Tardo, creators of legendary images.
