Joan Miro
Barcelona Museums - Great Places to Visit
There's so much to see in Barcelona, from Gaudi's great buildings to the city's beaches, that it's all too easy to miss some of the world's finest cultural attractions. Barcelona may not have a museum as famous as Madrid's Prado or the Louvre in Paris, but there's an amazing variety of museums in the city. Be careful, however, which day you set aside for a little culture on your city break in Barcelona - most museums are closed on Mondays.
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya is one of Spain's great museums housing medieval, 19th and 20th century Art From Catalonia. Housed in the impressive Palau Nacional at the foot of Montjuic, its Romanesque collection is reckoned to be the world's finest. There are several frescoes and Gothic works on the lives and deaths of saints - some are not for the fainthearted. It's also noted for its Modernista collection.
In the same area as the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya is Caixa Forum. Originally a factory built in the Art-Nouveau style, it has become one of Barcelona's most lively cultural centres with exhibitions devoted to artists such as Dalí, Rodin, Freud, Turner, Fragonard, Hogarth and Cartier-Bresson. It also hosts concerts, lectures and literary events.
The CosmoCaixa science museum lifted the European Museum of the Year Award in 2006 and is packed with fascinating displays for children and adults, all designed to make science interesting and comprehensible. There's fun to be had with interactive exhibits, particularly the Flooded Forest, an incredible recreation of a section of Amazonian rainforest, complete with frogs, turtles, snakes, fish and a steamy heat that is spookily realistic.
Artists who have lived and worked in Barcelona are now celebrated with their own museums, notably Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro and Antoni Tapies. The Museu Picasso is the number one Barcelona museum for his fans. Picasso arrived in Barcelona in 1894 when he was 14 and lived here until he was 23. He studied at the city's art college where his father was a tutor. The museum includes much of his early work housed in five medieval palaces in the Barri Gotic.
Take the funicular up Montjuic and you soon find yourself outside the Fundacio Joan Miro, a splendid purpose-built museum dedicated to the artist. Miró experimented with painting, sculpture, printing, ceramics, theatre and tapestry. Bemused visitors can learn about 'drippism' and the more sceptical may wonder in one gallery if some paintings are simply cracks in the wall. Do step outside where many of Miro's amusing sculptures are on view.
The Fundacio Antoni Tapies is in Eixample in a Domenech, a Montaner-designed building featuring a sculpture on the roof. Tapies was born in Barcelona in 1923 and is probably the greatest Spanish artist to emerge since the 1950s. Tàpies started as a surrealist painter but soon become an Abstract Expressionist, working in a style known as "Arte Povera". In 1953 he began working in Mixed Media and was one of the first to create serious art in this way, adding clay and marble dust to his paint and incorporating waste paper, string, and rags in his works.
Keeping to Contemporary Art, the Barcelona Contemporary Art Museum (MACBA) can be found near the northern end of the Ramblas. MACBA focuses on art from 1945, with many temporary exhibitions. The huge, white building, designed by the American Richard Meier opened in 1995. While most museums in the city close on Mondays, MACBA is closed Tuesdays
There are several museums celebrating the history of the city and of Catalonia. The Museu d'Historia de la Ciutat is in the heart of the Barri Gotic. Its collection covers the city's history from Roman times in a beautiful old mansion with central courtyard, the casa Clariana-Padellas. There is a fascinating underground tour along Roman roads, houses, bathrooms, sewers and the old city walls. You can also trace the evolution of Barcelona through plans, sketches and models.
The nearby Capella de Santa Agata offers views of the Barri Gotic from the Torre del Rey Marti while the neighbouring Museu Frederic Mares, just behind the Cathedral, has a massive collection of medieval sculpture housed in an ancient palace with large courtyards and soaring ceilings.
We finish this brief tour down by the port with two intriguing exhibitions. The Maritime Museum is housed in the Drassanes, the medieval shipyards at the seaward end of the Ramblas. Barcelona was one of the great maritime powers trading across the whole Mediterranean basin. There is a copy of a 16th century Royal Galley, old maps, charts and even a virtual dive in a submarine.
In the newly renovated port area of Port Vell is the Museu d'Historia de Catalunya. This excellent museum is in a converted warehouse and it covers Catalan history. The imaginative exhibits include The Birth of a Nation; Our Sea; On the Edge of the Empire; A Steam-powered Nation; The Electric Years; and Defeat and Recovery.
Much of this will be new to visitors from outside Catalonia, so when you step back outside, you will fully appreciate why Barcelona is one of the great cities of Europe.
About the Author
Bob Cartwright writes for TravelSavvy Barcelona - independent city guide for tourists. For more information visit:
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Joan Miro
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A Blend Of The Old And New: Old And New State Gallery
The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart or State Gallery is a famous Art Gallery located in Stuttgart, Germany. It is also one of the most esteemed museums in the country.
The State Gallery consist of three buildings. The oldest component was built by Gottlob Georg Barth during the period of 1838 to 1843. Today it is called the Old State Gallery and was built as the Museum of Picture Art. The Old State Gallery at one point housed the Royal Art School. The property was extended during 1881-1887 but was entirely damaged in World War II. However, it was reconstructed in 1948.
The Old State Gallery houses a prestigious collection of Art Work from the 13th century to the 19th century. The collection includes Italian, German and Dutch paintings.
James Stirling the renowned English architect built the New State Gallery and was joined to the Old State Gallery. This new addition that came about in the year 1984 made the State Gallery one of Europe’s most admired museums which was initially just an ordinary provincial gallery. The new building represents modern architectural styles at its best.
The New State Gallery houses contemporary paintings and art work from the 20th century. There are paintings by world renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso, Debuffet, Braque, Joan Miró, Klee, Oskar Schlemmer, Chagall, Joseph Beuys and Wassily Kandinsky. Among the most significant work displayed at the New State Gallery are The Raised Instant by Salvador Dalí, Journey on the Fish by Max Beckmann, Composition in White, Red and Blue by Piet Mondrian and The Bird with the Calm View, the Wings in Flames by Joan Miró.
The Old and New State Gallery features an extensive and diverse range of impressive exhibits that include paintings, sculptures, photography and modern graphics. This stunning museum and art gallery is located close to many nearby well appointed Stuttgart hotels that make it much easier to explore.
About the Author
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.
JOAN MİRO
