Frederic Marès Museum reopens

The Museu Frederic Marès is a unique collecting museum that preserves the collections assembled by its founder, sculptor Frederic Marès (1893-1991) in a part of the old Royal Palace of the Counts of Barcelona in the heart of the Gothic Quarter. Its original Verger or courtyard garden, still remains intact.

Throughout his lifetime he amassed an extensive Hispanic sculpture collection, as well as tens of thousands of objects that make up a vast collection of collections that documents past lifestyles and customs, mainly from the 19th century. There you can find amusing, unique items like fans, pipes, clocks, jewellery, photographs, toys, keys, pharmacy bottles and reliquaries, all presented in an intimate atmosphere.

The Verger of the Royal Palace is a courtyard filled with orange trees surrounded by arched galleries, a pleasant spot in fine weather; and its open from April to September, both for museum visitors and promenaders.

Frederic Marès i Deulovol (Portbou, 1893 – Barcelona, 1991) came to Barcelona with his family in 1903, when he was ten years old. He immediately started attending classes at the School of Fine Arts, La Llotja, where he received training as a sculptor, and where he would later work as a teacher until 1964.

However, in addition to being a sculptor, Marès also felt a passion for collecting from a tender age. He discovered the world of antiquarians and auctions in Paris back in 1911 and purchased his first collections. He gradually expanded them and gathered them in his sculpture workshop and at his home until in 1944 the Association of Friends of Catalan Museums held an exhibition with a selection from his collection at the City History Archive, and he publicly expressed his determination to donate his collection to the city.

More inf@: Museu Frederic Marès.

Barcelona dedicates a monument to Castellers (human tower makers)

Plaça de Sant Miquel, in the Ciutat Vella district, is expected to have a new architectural feature soon: the monument Barcelona is dedicating to castellers or “human tower makers“.

It is a stainless-steel-tube sculpture, approximately 30 metres high, by the sculptor Antoni Llena. Its lightness and the fact it is supported by the ground make it easy for visitors to walk inside it, without affecting how the square is normally used.

The monument, work on which is expected to start this January and last four or five months, will be supported by a 12×12-metre concrete slab.

The Mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, remarked: “This work is a symbol of how to build Barcelona: Castellers and Barcelona share a philosophy and certain values: cohesion, strength, teamwork, inclusion and commitment”.

The monument, approved by the Sculpture Advisory Board before UNESCO declared castells to be part of our Intangible World Heritage, the monument will cost roughly 600.000 euros.

The ideal beauty at Frederic Marès Museum

 The Museu Frederic Marès is a unique collecting museum that preserves the collections assembled by its founder, sculptor Frederic Marès (1893-1991), which came to form part of the patrimony of the city of Barcelona through his donation in 1944.  The museum was laid out taking advantage of a series of buildings that occupied part of the quarters of what used to be the Royal Palace, the headquarters of the counts of Barcelona and the kings of the Catalan-Aragonese Crown in the Middle Ages. 
Its original Verger (courtyard garden) still remains intact and it is open to all visitors.  A courtyard filled with orange trees surrounded by arched galleries, a pleasant spot in fine weather. Right in the middle is a fountain where the traditional festivity of “L’ou com balla” (the dancing egg) is held on Corpus Christi. The installation of a Wi-Fi service offers citizens Internet free of charge. In good weather, there is also the “Cafè d’estiu” (Summer Café).

“The ideal beauty” features works by Antoni Solà (Barcelona, 1780- Rome, 1861) one of the most prestigious artists of his times. Living on a stipend in Rome since 1803, he stayed there permanently and was one of only two foreigners to hold the presidency of the San Luca Academy, the main hub of neoclassical art. He took part in the main cultural affairs of Rome and upheld imitation of the Greeks and the quest for the ideal beauty, which is visible in his sculptures, academic speeches and lessons addressed to his disciples. Many of his monuments and works decorate palaces, churches and squares in Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Havana, Bologna and Mexico. Buried in the Eternal City, the new aesthetic patterns and the passage of time relegated him to oblivion. A century and a half later, this is the first exhibition that aims to do justice to one of the great neoclassical sculptors.

Where: Museu Frederic Marès
Pl. Sant Iu (next to the Cathedral)
www.museumares.bcn.cat
Dates: Until September 27th

Miró & Dupin: Art & Poetry

The poet Jacques Dupin is responsible for one of the most important works on Joan Miró. The book, written in 1961, bears witness to the relationship between Miró and Dupin, who also shared the same poetic universe.

The exhibition “Miró – Dupin. Art and Poetry” apart from documenting this relationship, also shows the interest Miró had in the work of other poets. At the same time it reveals the links Dupin had with other creators, and it features many drawins by Joan Miró done before 1948; part of his private library and some books illustrated by Joan Miró on his early years.

An interesting part of the exhibit shows the relationship Miró had in Paris with poets and writers such as Rimbaud and Apollinaire. It also features many books, poems and manuscripts by Jacques Dupin illustrated by Joan Miró and many letters, photographs and models for their joint collaborations.

Fundació Joan Miró collection currently comprises over 14,000 pieces: 217 paintings, 178 sculptures, 9 textiles, 4 ceramics, the almost complete graphic works and some 8,000 drawings; and it is considered the best collection of Joan Miró works.

Joan Miró, a man deeply rooted in his homeland but with a worldwide reputation, has also left part of his creation available to Barcelona citizens and visitors: a giant ceramic mural at Terminal 2 of the Airport, part of the pavement in La Rambla or the sculpture “Dona i Ocell” (Woman and Bird) on the park that bears his name, just next to Plaza Espanya.

B-Hotel in Plaza Espanya is a perfect location where to start a Miró Tour in Barcelona.

More inf@:  Fundació Joan Miró