Barcelona is a city rich in art. From their buildings to their clothes, art is found everywhere in the Catalan capital, and one of the best ways to admire the art is to simply walk around and admire the eclectic mix of architecture. And though Barcelona’s balmy coastal weather is often welcome, some days the heat can be just too much. That’s when you could head over to one of the city’s many museums for a bit of art appreciation in a more pleasant environment.
Museu Picasso
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Pablo Picasso left an indelible mark on the history of art. Co-founding the Cubist movement, inventing assemblage, and more, Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the 20thCentury, and that influence continues to the present day. And though he would go on to spend much of his life in Paris, Barcelona was the city in which he began to thrive, and which he regarded as a “true home”. Spread across five adjoined medieval palaces in the La Ribera neighbourhood, Museu Picasso has one of the most complete permanent collections of Picasso’s work, ranging from studies from his first formal lessons with his father, to major works likeThe First Communion, and everything in between. Created at Picasso’s express wishes, it also has the honour of being the first museum to be dedicated to Picasso alone, shedding light on Picasso’s relationship with Barcelona, and the subsequent influence the city had on him.
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
Housed in the Palau Nacional of Montjuïc, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya is one of the largest museums in Spain, with a collection spanning nearly 1,000 years of art in Catalonia. From Romanesque art to Baroque, Renaixençato the modern day, the museum prides itself in showcasing various periods of Catalan art. With a mission to become “a place of knowledge, debate, and a social tie”, the museum constantly seeks to update its collection and curation, ensuring that exhibitions remain attractive and engaging for visitors. Additionally, as the museum had been created in part to revive Catalonia’s artistic heritage, the museum also has several education programmes, such as learning resources, as well as being a space for integration and understanding.
Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona is a museum dedicated to the contemporary art of the city. With the present at centre stage, their exhibits, programmes and activities revolve around four key areas – Words, Cities, Technosphere, and Bodies – giving visitors a compelling and thought-provoking museum. This is the place to go if you’re wondering how art and culture are developing in the present day, and where it might go in the future. From their exhibits (permanent and temporary), to events like debates with both local and international personalities, there’s always something new to learn from a visit to the CCCB.
Fundació Joan Miró
Spain has no shortage of artists, and this museum is dedicated to Barcelona native Joan Miró, the surrealist artist who was famed for declaring an “assassination of painting”, upsetting the visual elements of established painting techniques, in support of bourgeois society. The Fundació Joan Miró was created by the artist himself, as a way to both display his collection and to promote scholarship of his work and contemporary art research. Today, along with Miró’s own paintings and sculptures, the foundation exhibits the work of 20thand 21stCentury artists, thus creating an interesting discourse.
Virreina Centre de la Imatge
Housed in the Virreina Palace, an unusual baroque- and rococo-style palace on La Rambla Avenue in the Raval district, the Virreina Centre de la Imatge is a museum dedicated to photography. As a relatively new medium of visual art, photography (and videography) is not often talked about, but that’s not the case here.Full of exhibits that explore photography as an art form and an ideology, the museum also has programmes and activities meant to push the boundaries not only of photography, but of what art itself can be. If you’re on the way to explore the Raval neighbourhood, be sure to make a stop here and expand your artistic horizons.
