Hola part 7! Art and Architecture in Catalonia

If you love modern, abstract and surreal art, Catalonia must be your next destination. Some of the strangest but also smartest artists produced their best work in the region.

Antoni Gaudi - is responsible for the architectural highlights of Barcelona. Our first full day in town was devoted to three places that define his work in the city. The first was a ten minute walk from apartment to Casa Mila, aka, La Predrera. This building on the street is known for it's curvy facade on the inside and out. I was mildly interested. My sister was fascinated. My parents were whelmed. Gaudi's second mark on the city, and the symbol you see on the most souvenirs is the Sagrada Familia cathedral. Oddly, construction began in 1882 and still isn't finished. The inside is all scaffolding and construction. The outside however is brilliant. There is so much detail on the outside of the building that there is no way one can observe it all on one trip.

The third Gaudi highlight of our first day was Parc Guell. The park was created as a place to get some fresh air in the city. The huge complex is most known for the curvy benches covered in tiled mosaic that give one a great view of the city. It was different and I imagine it's a great place for a picnic. There are tons of little details in the architecture of the park that you can spend hours exploring.

On a later date we went to another famous Gaudi House, Casa Batlo or the House of Bones. I liked this place more than La Predrera. There was more detail than just curvy walls and interesting textures.

Picasso - The Picasso Museum was located right in the middle of the Gothic quarters. It was fitting that many independent boutiques and galleries were nearby this museum. The first half of the museum was "normal" artwork. I guess it was all stuff Picasso did before he started getting cubic and surreal. That was the uninteresting part for me and most of the people there. The second half of the museum was the work that Picasso is known for. All of the unusual stuff was neat and when you got up close it was very detailed. It was great stuff. The temporary exhibit, which somehow my sister was an expert on displayed different artistic rendtions of a painting called Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez. It was interesting to see numerous renditions of one painting done 350 years ago. Of course Picasso's rendition was prominently displayed.

Joan Miro's - museum was in a great location on the Montjuic near the Olympic village. The only reason I knew of him was because he made the official 1982 World Cup poster. I have no idea who's made any other World Cup posters. I have no idea why I know Joan Miro made the Spain '82 poster. His work looks mostly like the poster and I was pleased. I actually found the progression of his work interesting. As he got older, he tried to do more with less. He simplified his colors and shapes and got more out of his work than he did with intricate designs. There's probably a lesson to be learned in that. He did a lot of sculpting too, all of which always seemed to include male genitalia. I don't know what lesson I can get from that. The museum cafeteria served little sandwiches called bip-bips.

Dali - Everyone knows he's a trip, and it still can't prepare you for his museum in the city of Figueres. Upon arriving at the museum you're witness to giant eggs lining the top of the building, golden astronauts with loaves of bread on their head, and a crazy old gypsy woman who likes to not wear underwear and show everyone waiting in line. I'm pretty sure that she wasn't part of the museum.

Inside is so much surrealism it's impossible to not be interested and amused. Just browse my pictures.

Museu Nacional Art de Catalunya - This was the final museum we visited on our trip. The outside of this building is ornate and grand.

The inside was actually rather plain, but there was a ton of Catalonian art to see. The art was divided into eras. I'm not into violence for the sake of violence, but the renaissance section had some great paintings depicting martyrs throughout the ages. It wasn't all bloody. Some of the martyr's depcited were being boiled alive or just tied up while demons ate them. That was interesting.

There was also a Roman section which included what is now my favorite depiction of Jesus ever. It's a piece that is part of a ceiling of an old temple unearthed in the Catalan countryside. Having seen so many churches and cathedrals with paintings that scare you into being Christian (I'm looking at you, Duomo in Florence) it's nice to see a peaceful picture that adorned a ceiling in an ancient church.

The MNAC also had a great temporary exhibit featuring three artists I had never heard of, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Francis Picabia. While not Catalan, their work fit in with the likes of Picasso, Miro, and Dali. They even made a film back in the 1920's which I was glued to. They seemed to be making music videos before people even knew you could combine music and video.