Of the close-to 50 museums or art collections open to the public in Barcelona, there are a few, a half-dozen or so, which demand a visit. And it should be a pleasant, simple visit, because this city's museums are, fortunately for us, museums of a human scale, that is to say, they house manageable collections. Catalonia's National Art Museum is perhaps the most remarkable of them all (open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10:00am to 7:00 pm, and Sundays and public holidays from 10:00am to 2:30 pm. Closed Mondays. Entrance: 4.80 euros). Located in one of the landmark buildings of Barcelona's skyline, the Palau Nacional, this is an unfinished museum exhibiting some extraordinary Romanesque frescoes dating from the 11th and 13th centuries. Most of them came from small churches in the Pyrenees, transferred here in the early 20th century to protect them from plunder. Together with the magnificent collection of Gothic tableaus and altarpieces, this set of sober paintings of apocalyptic tone is one of Spain's best collections from this period. At present, the museum is also exhibiting work by Spanish avant-garde sculptor Alberto, his works scarcely known until now because he lived in exile in the Soviet Union after the Spanish Civil War. Alberto was on of the artists featured in the Republic's Spanish pavilion in Paris's 1937 international exposition, together with Picasso's Guernica and Joan Miró's El Segador.
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Not far away, on the mountain itself, it's possible to visit a wonderful collection of works by Joan Miró in the context of one of the best instances of rationalist architecture in Barcelona: The Miró Foundation, by architect Josep Lluís Sert. Founded by the Catalan artist himself 25 years ago, this institution gathers an impressive collection of works by this visceral surrealist painter: From his first youthful figurative works to his latest paintings with their purged and overpowering abstraction. Currently the Foundation is presenting a stimulating exhibit displaying the different ways the most contemporary of today's artists portray their concept of space.
And as far as contemporary art goes, it is a must to visit the Caixa Foundation's collection of contemporary art. Located in a recently restored old modernist factory in the Caixaforum, inaugurated just a few weeks ago, this exhibit is also in the Montjuïc (Avenida Marqués de Comillas, 6-8. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10:00am to 8:00pm. Closed Mondays. Entrance free.) It is also the perfect complement to a visit to Barcelona's centrally located Contemporary Art Museum, just a few meters away from La Rambla, located at 1 Plaza dels Àngels (Open 11:00am to 7:30 pm; Saturdays from 10:00am to 8:00pm; Sundays and public holidays from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Closed Tuesdays. Entrance: 4.80 euros.)
The museum, located in a building designed by Richard Meier, is currently exhibiting a small selection of its permanent collection and three individual exhibitions of great interest. A retrospective by South African photographer David Goldbatt; an anthology of the drawings of the young US artist Raymond Pettibon and a sample of the recent works by Basque artist Txomin Badiola.
Meanwhile the Tàpies Foundation is also presenting works of contemporary art and not just through a limited selection of the works of Catalan informalist artist Antoni Tàpies but also through an excellent retrospective exhibit of the works of Danish creator Asger Jorn, one of the founders of the mythic expressionist Cobra group emerging from the embers of Europe's postwar period.
It is the Picasso museum, however, that is the one most favored by tourists and Barcelona residents alike, making it the most visited museum of the city (15-23 Calle Montcada. Tuesdays to Saturdays 10:00am to 8:00pm. Sundays 10:00am to 3:00pm. Closed Mondays. Entrance: 4.80 euros.) Located in the Gothic area of city, the museum is housed in five medieval palaces, all connected with each other and presenting a particularly significant collection of paintings by the most famous artist of the 20th century. The collection mainly focuses on Picasso's early paintings prior to his cubist stage. Pablo Picasso was formed as a painter in Barcelona, an element that surprises many of the painter's admirers who, of course, can view the artist's work from entirely different perspectives. The impressive exhibition París-Barcelona reveals more starkly than ever Picasso's relationship to this Mediterranean city. Gathering over 600 pieces by artists working in the two cities in the period spanning 1888 to 1937, this exhibition allows us to compare the works of artists such as Degàs, Rodin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Cézanne with those of Catalan artists such as Picasso himself, Miró, Dalí and other lesser known artists in the international sphere such as Isidre Nonell, Ramón Casas or Josep Clarà.
The latter group of artists is also well represented in the Modern Art Museum located in the heart of the Ciutadella Park and which has a magnificent art collection from the modernist period (Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10:00am to 7:00pm; Sundays and public holidays from 10:00am to 2:30 pm. Closed Mondays. Entrance: 3 euros.)
* Este artículo apareció en la edición impresa del Viernes, 15 de marzo de 2002