Museums in Barcelona, Spain. Directory of Barcelona museums.

Museums in Barcelona

Barcelona leaves most Spanish cities standing in terms of art and culture. It is home to some of the world’s most famous museums including the world-renowned Gaudi Museum, which contains a vast collection of this genius architect's drawings, portraiture and busts as well as items of furniture. The museum is situated in the Parc Guell, which contains more examples of Gaudi’s work. Art lovers will appreciate the Barbier-Mueller Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, which exhibits works of art from the world of the Aztec, Chavin, Mochica, Olmec, Maya, and Inca. This museum is the only one in Europe devoted to this period and race. The textile and Costume Museum houses historic fashion collections dating from the Baroque era to the 20th Century. Manuel Rocamora and Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga donated many of the exhibits. Other notable houses of culture include the Museu del Comic, the Egyptian Museum and the Museu Frederic Marés.

La Pedrera, by Ian Lloyd

La Pedrera by Antoni Gaudí
Address: La Pedrera, Provenca, 261-265 Phone: +34 93 484 55 30
Website: http://obrasocial.caixacatalunya.es

La Pedrera (the Quarry), or Casa Milà, was constructed between 1906 and 1910 by the Spanish Surrealist Antoni Gaudí for the Milà family. This is one of the principal Gaudí apartment buildings and among the most imaginative houses in the history of architecture. The site, resembling a sculpture rather than a building, was constructed in collaboration with the architect Josep Maria Jujol. The façade, an impressive fusion of varied harmonious masses of undulating stone, lacks straight lines, and even the forged iron, present in the balcony shapes, imitates fusing vegetal forms. The traditional Catalan 'totxo', or brick, was used ti support the lofts, while the arching walls, following the style developed by Gaudí in the Santa Teresa school, have been made of chipped stone resembling fossilised ocean waves. The doors and windows look like they were dug out of sand. The roof showcases the artist's exuberant fantasy; the chimneys, designed in vanguard shapes, comically dance across the roof. The building was listed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

National Museum of Catalan Art
Address: Palau Nacional - Parc de Montjuïc Phone: +34 93 622 03 75	Price: 9 - 9 EUR
Website: http://www.mnac.es
Opening Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10:00-19:00 Sunday 10:00-14:30
The Palau Nacional, an emblematic building of the 1929 International Exhibition, houses the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, or National Art Museum of Catalonia. Set on the Montjuïc mountain, overlooking the city of Barcelona, the museum rubs shoulders with a series of museum institutions spread around the park, such as the Fundació Joan Miró, the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya, the Museu Etnològic and the CaixaForum.
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Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art
Address: Place dels Angels 1 Phone: +34 97 2677500 e-mail: amics@macba.es
Website: http://www.macba.es

The history of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) can be traced back to 1959. Art critic Alexandre Cirici Pellicer effected his idea of creating a museum of Contemporary Art, and together with Cesáreo Rodríguez Aguilera headed a group which worked on forming a collection which later served as the foundation of the future museum. As various artists united to decide upon the location for the new museum, the group launched 23 exhibitions, featuring contemporary artists such as Moisès Villèlia, Antoni Bonet, Àngel Ferrant, Jean Fautrier, Albert Ràfols Casamada, Romà Vallès, Jordi Curós, Josep Maria de Sucre and August Puig. The MACBA Collection, which started around 1950, includes works by Catalan, Spanish and international artists. Offering a thorough overview of the fundamental aspects of Contemporary Art, the museum works to promote education in critical memory.

Picasso Museum
Address: Montcada, 15-23 Phone: +34 93 3196310 e-mail: museupicasso@bcn.cat
Website: http://www.museupicasso.bcn.es
Opening Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-20:00
The Picasso Museum in Barcelona offers a comprehensive showcase of the formative years of Pablo Ruiz Picasso, who is revealed through more than 3,500 works, constituting the permanent collection. However, the Picasso Museum also reveals the artist's relationship with Barcelona, which shaped his adolescence and youth, and continued to his death. Thanks to Picasso and Jaume Sabartés, his friend, Barcelona holds the ultimate collection of Picasso’s youthful works.
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Joan Miró Fundation
Address: Parc de Montjuïc Phone: +34 934 439 470 e-mail: fjmiro@bcn.fjmiro.es
Website: http://www.bcn.fjmiro.es
Opening Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10:00-20:00 Sunday 10:00-14:30
Joan Miró, an artist particularly fascinated by the implementation of a diversity of materials, forms and colours, vastly explored and experimented with painting, sculpture, printing techniques, ceramics, theatre and tapestry. The Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona consists of 11,000 pieces, including 240 paintings, 175 sculptures, nine textiles, four ceramics, a complete ensemble of his graphic works and some 8,000 drawings.
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Museum of the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Fami
Address: Calle Mallorca 401 Phone: +34 93 4550247 e-mail: informa@sagradafamilia.org
Website: http://www.sagradafamilia.org
Opening Hours: Monday-Sunday 09:00-18:00
Antoni Gaudí was a creator of exquisite examples of Global Architecture, who did not differentiate between structures and decoration. Reproducing natural shapes, Gaudí, in 1910, designed the Passion façade of the Museum of the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family (Sagrada Família Temple). Gaudí spent most of his time in the workshops of the temple, to which he devoted the last years of his life. The temple's construction, a major opus by the architect, was constantly threatened by economic shortfalls. Following efforts to raise funds, Gaudí tirelessly explained the construction in detail to anyone who would visit it, and would also occasionally go out into the streets to raise funds among passers-by.

Nou Camp (FC Barcelona Museum)
Address: Aristides Maillol, entrance no 7	Price: 7 - 11 EUR
Website: http://www.fcbarcelona.com

The Nou Camp football stadium has been home to the FC Barcelona football since 1957. Construction of the stadium began in 1954, and it was inaugurated in 1957 before some 90,000 spectators. Enlarged in 1982 for the Spanish World Cup, Nou Camp is Europe's largest all-seater stadium, as well as the world's third largest. with a capacity of 98,700 spectators. The site is more often referred to as Camp Nou, meaning 'new field', in Catalan. In spite of the great number of spectators it can seat, the stadium can be evacuated in five minutes, in case of emergency. The FC Barcelona Museum located on the facility's premises is the city's most visited museum. It comprises a historical archive of photos, documents and trophies, but also an exhibition of works by Catalan artists Tapies, Dali and Miro. The stadium also provides tours of its changing rooms, a stroll through the tunnel onto the pitch and the substitutes' bench.

Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture
Address: Montalegre 5 Phone: +34 93 4120810 e-mail: global@cccb.org
Website: http://www.cccb.org

The Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB) conceives exhibitions as more than mere compilations of works. The site proposes routes which constitute paths forking into bold images and concepts, and a series of exercises promoting experimentation. With its exhibits, the CCCB attempts to find new projection spaces, which is the main reason why some of the exhibitions are constantly on tour. The site's aim is to participate in cultural debate, making statements against conformism, clichés and market trends. In 2003, the site opened a new exhibition space for small-format shows, l'Aparador. The showcase also provides a venue for additional cultural activities organised by the CCCB. The film and video section offers independent productions, allowing new genres to enrich CCCB's audiovisual programme. Featuring in-house productions or collaborations with independent artists, the CCCB believes in films beyond commercial circuits and sees experimentation with alternative forms as a vehicle for commitment to reality.

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