National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona – history, photos, opening hours, prices 2021, how to get there, map

The National Art Museum of Catalonia is located at the foot of Montjuic in the center of Barcelona. It occupies a building with an area of ​​30 thousand m², which looks like an old royal palace. In fact, this is a modern building, which was erected for the World Exhibition of 1929-1930. as a pavilion to showcase achievements in the field of electrification. A magnificent building, one of the most beautiful in Barcelona, ​​built in the style of the classic Spanish Renaissance, was named: National Palace.

Story

After the Expo, it housed the Museum of Catalan Art. For the 1992 Olympics, the palace was decided to be restored and the Museum of Modern Art moved here. As a result of the merger, the National Art Museum of Catalonia was formed. Its departments were replenished with exhibits from other museums, as well as those received by will or as a gift. Reconstruction and final arrangement, which began in 1990, was completed on December 16, 2004 and is the date of the official opening of the museum. Currently, the exposition includes more than 236 thousand items.

Collections

The MNAC (Museu Nacional de Art de Catalunya) collections cover works created over almost a millennium by masters from Catalonia, other regions of Spain, France, Italy and many European countries. The main collection is made up of works of different styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque.

The nature of the exhibited works is varied. They are represented by paintings, sculptures, wood and bone carvings, metal and ceramic products, engravings, coins, and medals. A unique collection of contemporary art of the 19th – 20th centuries, assembled from paintings by famous artists

Roman exposition

The Romanesque exposition, finally formed by 1995, is rightfully the pride of the museum. It is considered one of the largest and oldest in the world. For the works of the Romanesque (Roman) style, corresponding to the 11th – 13th centuries, strictness and nobility are characteristic. Basically, these are wall paintings that adorned the cathedrals, chapels of the Iberian Peninsula. Many frescoes and wall paintings were completely cut out using the original technique and removed from the places of creation, where their safety was threatened by bad weather and the disastrous state of the temples.

Particularly noteworthy is such a unique masterpiece as the frescoes of the 12th century from the Church of St. Clement in Taula depicting Christ – Pantocrator, the Mother of God, the apostles, for which a separate room has been allocated. They amaze with a special expressive style, brightness of colors. Fresco painting is complemented by a rich collection of murals and paintings on panels. Unique, dating back to the 11th-12th centuries, are sculptures made of stone and wood on Christian themes, gold and silver church items, cult objects for the liturgy, and altars.

Gothic exposition

The Gothic style is later than the Romanesque. It includes works of art from the middle of the 12th – 15th centuries not only by Spanish, but also by French and Italian masters. An interesting altarpiece is the work of the Valencian artist Gonzalo Perez, made in 1415. The central theme is scenes from the biography and miracles of the holy martyr Barbara. The work is a painting on wood with tempera, with a characteristic brightness, liveliness of colors. The scenes are framed with gold plates and decorated with intricate ornaments.

Of the late Gothic works, the painting of the Catalan court artist Luis Dalmau “Our Lady of the Councilors” of 1443 stands out. This painting marks the transition to a three-dimensional depiction of figures, space, and details of nature. Another master of spatial depth and volume is the Italian painter Anton Francesco delo Shegia. His work is represented by painting a wooden canvas, presumably the lid of a chest. The theme – the seven virtues – is revealed in brightly written compositions dedicated to each of them.

The exposition contains many wooden and stone sculptures, furniture, items with skillful bone carving, stained-glass windows, and forged items.

Revival and Baroque exposition

The Renaissance and Baroque exposition was created in 2000 from works donated to the museum by private collectors, especially F. Cambo. It is represented by paintings by Spanish, Flemish, Venetian, Italian masters of the 16th-18th centuries, in particular by such famous artists as Goya, El Greco, Rubens, Velazquez, Titian and others.

This painting is characterized by the creation of three-dimensional canvases depicting the character, individuality of the characters, the colorfulness and truthfulness of the figures, the contrast of bright images against a dark background. The most famous paintings are: “Saint Paul” by Diego Velazquez, “Allegory of Love. Cupid and Psyche” by Francisco Goya, “St. Peter and St. Paul” by El Greco.

Tissen-Bornemis Collection

The private collection of paintings by Baron Hans Thyssen-Bornemisz is one of the largest in the world. Most of it is on display at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. After his death, the baron's Catalan-born widow, Carmen Cervera, donated part of the collection to the MNAC. This is mainly Italian painting in the style of the Venetian Rococo, Renaissance, European Baroque and Dutch landscape painting of the 17th century.

Unique paintings, the golden fund of medieval painting, are distinguished by rare craftsmanship and rich diversity. Many of them are written on Catholic themes and call for piety and mercy. Of the most famous paintings, it is worth noting: “The Adoration of the Magi” and “St. Jerome in the Desert” by M. Thyssen, “The Annunciation” by P. Veronese, “The Virgin and Child” and “Portrait of Antonio Anselmi” by V. Titian, “Virgin and Child with St. Elizabeth and St. John” by P. Rubens.

Modern Art

The collection of contemporary Catalan art includes a variety of areas of painting, sculpture, arts and crafts, cinema, photography. This is a wide range of visual styles of the 19th – 20th centuries, such as: neoclassicism, modernism, avant-garde, cubism, etc.

Barcelona is the capital of modernism. This trend is represented by the paintings of Santiago Rusiñol, as well as the decorative art of Antonio Gaudí and José Maria Jujol. In the exposition you can see paintings by such famous painters as: P. Picasso (cubism and surrealism), D. Gonzalez (abstractionism), M. Fortuny (romantic orientalism), J. Miro (abstractionism), P. Gargallo (cubism), posters A .Toulouse-Lautrec, sculptures by O. Rodin.

Department of drawings and engravings

It contains an extensive collection of 50,000 drawings, 70,000 engravings, more than 1,000. posters. These are images of popular artists, illustrations for literary works, cartoons, sketches, sketches, drawings. Their authors are both Spanish and European and North American masters. The collection includes works from the 19th and 20th centuries. Of the most famous artists whose works are exhibited, we can cite: M. Fortuny, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Anthony Clave, Eugene Samuel Grasset.

Photo collection

The photographic collection includes more than 40 thousand titles, covering the 19th-20th centuries. It shows the progress of photographic art from its origins to the present day. A large place is given to the fashion trend of the early 20th century – pictoralism, which combines the tendencies of painting and photography. When using the technique of this method, images in a photograph are difficult to distinguish from a painting. Of the modern trends, the section devoted to photojournalism, which uses photos as a key to understanding the events covered, is interesting.

Department of Numismatics

In the numismatic department, more than 155 thousand coins are exhibited since the 6th century. BC e. to the present day. In addition, the collection includes medals, coinage, orders, insignia of the 15th-20th centuries. The Catalan collection of coins is especially popular.

Opening hours and ticket prices

Winter opening hours (October to April):

Summer opening hours (May to September):

The museum is closed on Mondays. Annual closing: January 1st, May 1st and December 25th. Ticket offices close 30 minutes before the museum closes.

Where is it located and how to get there

The National Art Museum of Catalonia is located in the center of Barcelona, ​​next to the Plaza de España metro station L1, L3. In addition to the metro, it can be reached by buses: 55, 150, 13, 37

On foot:

In Barcelona tourism.com.de recommends the following hotels:

National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona on the map