Many of the old paintings hanging in city apartments have a small gold titleplates with the name of the painter – usually one of the Grand Masters: Murillo, Ribera, Velázquez, Zurbarán.
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The Motor Car in Catalan Art
As a result of the age of its own invention, the motor car cannot have been a theme in art much before the turn of the twentieth century.
Lina Bo Bardi draws the future of the Miró Foundation
The Miró Foundation presents an exhibition of drawing by the Italian-Brazilian Lina Bo Bardi, one of the most important architects of the twentieth century, following the storm which has blown up over the dismissals and the losses of the institution.
The Final Edit of Isaki Lacuesta
“I have been making video installations for some time. They allow me to continue making films in different ways. Because in cinema films there are some things that cannot be done. Either because of the format, or the context, or the audiences, which have become very conservative.”
Kitsch Aesthetic as a Means of Protest
The AES+F group doesn’t care whether they are labelled as frivolous or kitsch. Their aesthetic is generally considered to be on the verge of bad taste.
Venus and Adonis by Estudi Giró
One of the most famous paintings by Titian is “Venus and Adonis”, and it enjoyed so much success at the time that many replicas were made of it, with minimal variations. In the work, the artist does not focus on the myth portrayed by Ovid, but is a free version and one which, to this day, we cannot be sure whether it is of his own invention.
Barcelona is a Computer Game
When Barcelona had no share in the computer games industry, it suddenly often appeared as the setting for one. Now that it has become the unarguable capital of said industry, the computer games no longer appear. Does anyone know what is going on?
The World of Casas
The painter Ramon Casas was the great columnist for one of the most brilliant and convulsive periods of the history of Catalonia. The Gothsland Gallery has put on a magnificent exhibition of his work, which accompanies the presentation of the first volume of the Complete Catalogue of the artist.
Incombustible Guinovart
The density of techniques, materials and content which can come together in a single work of Josep Guinovart is almost infinite.
The Mini-landscape of Terra-lab.cat
Jordi Mitjà, Jon Uriarte and Ingrid Guardiola have taken the fourth episode from Terra-lab.cat –the visual laboratory of the region– to the Museum of the Empordà in Figueres and the Museum of Exile in La Jonquera.
Angoulême, the capital of comic
In this world there is a city almost as unreal as The Invisible Cities as described by Italo Calvino. This city is called Angoulême and the streets are Rue Hergé and Rue Goscinny.
Saliva, Sweat and Blood at the SÂLMON Festival
The SÂLMON Festival, which is in its seventh year with an extended programme, is always a stimulating event for measuring the pulse of new tendencies in dance, performance arts and contemporary live art.
Silver Anniversary in Episodes at a La Capella
The walls of the chapel of the Ancient Hospital of Barcelona, La Capella, are oozing with history. Health history, religious history and artistic history.
Dalí and his Father. A conflict in three phases
More unpublished declarations of Anna Maria Dalí about the prolonged conflict that the artist had with his father.
When Dalí made up with his Father
An excerpt from the unpublished diaries of Rafael Santos Torroella reveals, through Anna Maria Dalí, what Salvador Dalí’s reconciliation with his father was like, having been expelled by the family for his relationship with Gala and the surrealist ‘sect’.
Mercy for the MACBA
To the now classic dilemma of “who do you like best, Mummy or Daddy?” the people of Barcelona have added “which do you prefer, culture or health?”.
Three Impertinent Young Girls
Now that the Facebook robot censors have put into practice the implacable and efficient, white and starched, orders of Silicon Valley puritanism, it brings to mind an interesting and strange controversy which took place in Barcelona at the height of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship.
The Difference between “sink” and “lift”
Austrian artist Oliver Ressler presents his first solo exhibition at the gallery àngels barcelona.
The Purge of the Foundations
The artistic and hereditary fabric of Catalonia is extensive…and thinly spread, too thinly spread. Are the recent staff dismissals at the Joan Miró Foundation and the “strategic change” at the Antoni Tàpies Foundation, warnings of future suspensions?
The Paradise Lost (or not) of Domènec
After the exhibition last year at the Macba “Not here or anywhere”, Domènec returns to show the tensions between utopia and reality in modern architecture.
Velázquez, the Gold of the Indies and the Captains Alatriste
Philip IV of Spain contracted Diego de Velázquez when the painter was twenty-four years old. He had just arrived in a Madrid that was at the height of Gold Fever.
An Explosive Dalí
Dalí rocks! He invented soft watches, the paranoiac-critic method, the museum as a theatre of experience and, even after his death, the exhibition in two acts.
The Lost Caravaggio
All antiquarians who dedicate out noble profession to antique paintings have dreamed of finding a Caravaggio.
Joaquim Chancho, the vibration of black and white
At a time when it is so difficult to see good painting exhibitions in our country, the exhibition by Chancho at Ana Mas Projects is a breath of fresh air.
Sergio Mora: expanded drawing and international success
Sergio Mora is able to express himself with as much freshness in a painting exhibition, an illustrated book either for adults or for all readers, a bizarre comic, an album cover or a subjective and non-neutral design for fashion or interiors. The book “Moraland” brings together a collection of his work.
What is going on in the Miró Foundation?
This institution, one of the most prestigious in Barcelona, has presented its programme for 2019. And I have to say it has been something of a surprise…
The City Will Not Make Us Free
The Umbral project in the Barcelona metro: thirteen suburban artistic works on migration and its political, social and symbolic contradictions.
Commissioned Portraits (2)
As the twentieth century progressed, the portrait became increasingly sidelined when not directly condemned.
Commissioned Portraits (1)
Recently there has been some controversy about the portrait of the King of Spain by the portrait painter Hernán Cortés Moreno, specialist in this type of work.
Surcharges in Olot
Political art has a very bad press, when what should really have a bad name is art which says nothing.
Game over. Insert coin
“Sobrecàrregues” is an initiative of the Assembly of Artists of La Garrotxa. Every month the Assembly invites an artist to hand on the façade of Olot Town Hall a life-sized interpretation of “The Charge” (1902) – the best-known work by Ramon Casas.
Eulogy to the subtlest of Guinovart
A decade after his decease, it is clearer than ever that the highly prolific work of Guinovart need to be reviewed.
Rembrandt van Rijn: florins, tulips and hockey
The Cultural Centre of Terrassa hosts a sober and well-selected show of engravings by Rembrandt from the Furió collection.
The Whole of Tharrats
An exhibition at the Fundació Tharrats d’Art Gràfic commemorates the centenary of the birth of this artist from Girona and explores his multiple creative sides.
Tintin on the Moon
CosmoCaixa invites us to an exhibition that links Hergé’s comic “Mission to the Moon” (1950) with the Apollo 11 mission (1969).
Colonizing New Art Spaces
Jordi Abelló’s research to find new formats and places to share his pictorial and audiovisual creation leaves no stone unturned.
Pocket Art Connoisseur, the best art app in 2018
Having the Pocket Art Connoisseur is like keeping the most rigorous art critic in your pocket.
With rebellion, awareness is born… and so is suspicion
The Mayoral Gallery exhibits a joint show of the best pieces of Spanish Informalism.
The MNAC: flexibility or bust
The MNAC has just opened two new halls dedicated to Catalan art from 1940 to 1980.
Lorenza Böttner. An Extremely Delicate Art
In the work of this Chilean-born German artist it does not occur to us that she has no arms or whether she is a man, a woman or a transgender person.
The Gatecrashed Memory of Concha Martínez Barreto
Concha Martínez Barreto is interested in showing the mechanisms of the construction of memory.
The Invisible Collection
I receive a strange telephone call from a woman who, by the sound of her soft voice, seems young. She tells me that her father has an important collection of drawings and invites me to see them Argentona.
DelicARTessen or the Diversity of Non-Institutional Art
DelicARTessen is a great occasion for those who want to see a significant part of current art being made in Barcelona.
Alicja Kwade: exploring space and time
At a moment in humanity when time has never been so difficult to find and keep, Polish artist Alicja Kwade (1979) invites us to pass through, listen to and observe space-time.
Between the River Onyar and the River Ripoll, Mela and Antoni
Among all the foreign artists that art dealer Josep Dalmau exhibited, Mela Muter (Warsaw, 1876 – Paris, 1967) was the one that had the biggest impact in Catalonia.
Charlotte Salomon, the Curative Nature of Art
The work of Charlotte Salomon contains the legend of this woman artist discovered long after her death.
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, the Megalodemocrat
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer has launched in Barcelona, “Megalodemocrat”, the documentary following the last decade of his extraordinary career.
Bernardo Bertolucci and the Last Tango in Paris
The ghost of the butter scene haunts Bertolucci even in death.
Mela Muter, finally!
An exhibition in the Art Museum of Girona brings us the visual and written work of this Polish artist who made her mark on Girona at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Dalí under the genius of Raphael
Raphael’s “Madonna of the Rose” leaves the Prado Museum to visit the Teatre-Museu Dalí, and make the dream of the genius from the Empordà come true.
Change Needed at the Academy
An analysis of the convulsive events which have changed the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi.
The Most Christmassy Tradition of Barcelona
If there was ever a Christmas tradition that attracted more followers than the others, at least in the city of Barcelona, it would be to criticise the nativity scene in the Plaça Sant Jaume.
The face as a flag
Foto Colectania proposes the topic of identity through photography, delving into the extraordinary Walther Collection.
Picasso and Sabartés, forever friends
Jaume Sabartés, at certain times proved to be a solid part of Picasso’s daily life.
Berga i Boada: sex and violence
Josep Berga i Boada is revealed as one of the most interesting Catalan creators of the turn of the twentieth century.
Picasso and Picabia: forced parallels
“Picasso – Picabia. Painting in question” is one of the best artistic exhibits this year.
The voice of the weakest
Beyond violence, war and politics, there are people who suffer, lives destroyed and incurable traumas. Turkish artist Erkan Özgen give a voice to these silenced stories.
Liberxina, the fuel of creative freedom
In Catalonia, at the height of Francoism, one group of artists was in a hurry to turn the rules upside down and work across disciplines.
Vindications of Ismael Smith
In 1951 Isaac, Ana Maria, Ismael and Paco Smith Marí packed up the contents of their luxury mansion in Irvington, on the banks of the Hudson, and a favourite place of residence for the most accomplished New Yorkers.
Lee Miller: “I would rather take a photo than be one”
Lee Miller was no “femme fatale”, she was a “femme différente”.
The Hunter Hunted
That a hunter would wish to hunt another is an impossible mission. Second installment of the series “Stories of Antiquarians and Fame”.
Miralda: “When you are an artist, you have to give things away”
Interview with Antoni Miralda, winner of the Velázquez prize in 2018 for his new exhibition with the Senda Gallery.
The movements of art in movement
The unmissable proposals of the Loop Festival 2018.
The Knight’s Home
An alternative reading of the exhibition “The Splendour of Catalan Castles” at the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia.
Bibliophilia and Process
Last Thursday in Barcelona there was an extraordinary auction of antiquarian books and manuscripts. The organisers Soler y Llach, are a reference in this kind of sale. Most of the lots were sold.
The Genius and Figure of Manuel Duque
From time to time the Vila Casas Foundation has little great successes despite the fact that they often become fogged by an excess of eclecticism and exhibitional hyperactivity.
The Timelessness of Frederic Amat
It is very difficult to resist the charm of the cabinets of curiosities.
The Movies According to Stanley Kubrick
The first characteristic to define Stanley Kubrick and his movies is his extremely high and exceptional ambition.
Eppur si muove!
It is not easy to gain access to kinetic art from the world of screens and digital media. Accustomed to the paradigm of constant and liquid movement, kinetic art pieces and their commitment to the study of movement have something of an old-fashioned method, a mechanical process and a touch of magic. It is almost as if we are talking of another age.
Lee Miller, a Genius in the Net of British Surrealism
If there was ever an exhibition that we could say “has many different readings”, without falling into either clichés or exaggeration, it has to be “Lee Miller and Surrealism in Britain”, which is currently on at the Miró Foundation in Barcelona.
Picasso Blue and Pink, in Paris
If Pablo Picasso had died in 1904, before moving permanently to France, he would still be in all the history of art textbooks in the world. The proof is the exhibition Picasso bleu & rose, at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
Treasures on paper
Just as Jep Gambardella, the star of La grande bellezza, loved the smell of old houses, there are people that area fascinated by auctions of old books and manuscripts.
Toulouse-Lautrec and New Technology
An exhibition has just opened at the CaixaForum Barcelona with a misleading title, but one which is nonetheless worth seeing. If only to be the witnesses to one of the most important revolution in cultural history.
MACBA. 34th Time Lucky?
Since the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) finally opened its doors to the public in November 1995, there have been 34 presentations of its collection.
Stories of Antiquarians and Fame: a brief autopsy
“An antiquarian is a hunter of art works, somebody who seeks or chases pieces obsessively until they are bagged.” In this space, every month antiquarian Artur Ramon will give us a taste of his most impassioned professional experiences. #nofilters.
macaparana-barcelona or ethereal sensuality
Brazilian artist José de Souza Oliveira Filho, better known as Macaparana, exhibits for the first time in our country. A distinguished artist whose work makes constant refences to the “Paulista” geometry of São Paulo: a reference to the geometrical abstraction of the Russian constructivists.
Uncertainty, flickering… and a Dramamine to boot
Dalí grumbled in front of a work by Alexander Calder: “if there is one thing you can ask of a sculpture, it is that it shouldn’t move”.
Brushstrokes of the Opera
Two exhibitions celebrate the new opera season at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
Art for After the Shipwreck
Vicenç Viaplana exhibits a visual symphony at the Galería Marc Domènech with indirect allusions to the economic disaster of 2008.
“Vitriol” versus “Tàpies protector”
A work rescued from the past, a sarcastic portrait of Antoni Tàpies, opens up the stark debate between formalism and realism, between ethics and the desire for the powers of art.
The Photographic Revolution of the “Fifth Generation”
An exhibition at the Virreina which takes us through the aesthetic revolution of Catalan photography in the 1970s.
The Jewel and the Siege
A journey in time to two besieged cities, with a common theme: jewellery.
Driving Miss Dalí
Blai Matons (Barcelona, 1934) worked as a chauffeur. From 1969 to 1977 he drove Salvador Dalí and his wife Gala in his Class E Mercedes.
The Resurrection of Gustau Violet
Three recent initiatives have revived interest in the work of the Rousillon sculptor Gustau Violet.
Gala Dalí, Valls and a Madeleine from Kazan
The city of Valls made a gift of its emblematic eagle to Gala Dalí. Why? Well, the clue is that in the world of Dalí, nothing is as it seems…