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Art in Barcelona

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Last updated: 06 February, 2024

Great art is in Barcelona’s blood. Although much was lost in the city’s turbulent past, the Catalan National Art Museum has the world’s greatest collection of Romanesque murals, salvaged from remote Pyrenean chapels; both Picasso and Miro, Barcelona’s 20th-century masters, were inspired by their bold otherworldly figures. The same museum has a treasure trove of elegant, courtly Gothic art from Barcelona’s golden age, notably by the great Jaume Huguet.

The city’s second golden age, beginning in the late 19th century, produced Ramon Casas and Santiago Rusinol avant-garde painters headquartered at the Quatre Gats cafe that cultivated the young Picasso.

Other key figures include theorist and abstract expressionist Antoni Tapies, one of the leading figures of 20th-century art in Europe; the famous conceptual artist Angels Ribe; Agusti Puig, heir of Picasso and Miro; and the jovial street artist El Pez.

Recommendations

9
  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Museum housing the major collection of the works of the late, great Abstract Expressionist Antoni Tapies. Catalan artist Tapies, born in 1923, was a prominent figure in the art world, known for his innovative approach and exploration of materials, and his fascination with symbolism. He was associated with the Art Informel movement and was known for his abstract, textured paintings that incorporated everyday objects.

The foundation houses an extensive collection of his artworks, including paintings, sculptures, and prints. and its all housed in a stunning Modernista building.

 

 

Adult price: £6

Good for age: 18+

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Immaculately white and full of light, MACBA, as it’s known, champions cutting-edge international and Catalan contemporary art, dating from the mid 20th century onwards.

The museum aims to preserve a record of post-war art, with three modern periods represented: the 1940s-60s, 1960s-70s and the contemporary period.

Designed by the American architect Richard Meier, MACBA is a powerful symbol of the changes in Raval, a neighbourhood that was once an insalubrious slum – it even has skateboard-friendly ramps.

Adult price: £10

Good for age: 18+

CaixaForum

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

View of external facade with big white banner on building

Experience

A magnificent, red-brick Modernista factory now converted into a superb Catalan cultural centre, with edgy permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Adult price: £5

Good for age: 18+

Can Framis

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

External view of the main entrance

Experience

Check out Barcelona’s current modern art scene in this strikingly renovated factory building, featuring works produced in the last 50 years.

Adult price: £5

Good for age: 18+

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Covering Catalan art over a thousand-year period, this museum features an especially rich collection of Romanesque art, including a unique series of tenth-and 11th-century frescoes detached from Pyrenean chapels. The Gothic and Modernista sections are nearly as rich, and there are plenty of Grand Masters in between.

Adult price: £10

Good for age: 18+

KBr Barcelona Photo Center

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

view of exterior facade

Experience

Set in the waterfront MAPFRE skyscraper, this gallery has brilliant, ever-changing exhibitions by world-famous photographers.

Adult price: £4

Good for age: 18+

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

External view of the building facade

Bucket List Experience

Miro Foundation

One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Barcelona native Joan Miro commissioned his good friend Josep Lluis Sert to design a museum for contemporary art bathed in natural light.

Inside (and out on the terraces, overlooking Barcelona) are Miro’s own playful, surreal, brilliantly colourful paintings, sculptures and textiles, as well as works by other major artists (notably Alexander Calder’s Mercury Fountain).

The Foundation also hosts some of the city’s top temporary exhibitions.

Adult price: £10

Good for age: 18+

Moco Museum Barcelona

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Moco Museum Barcelona

Experience

A second outpost of the excellent Amsterdam Moco. These privately-owned museums specialise in contemporary art and exhibitions from famous artists such as Banksy, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Salvador Dali. The museums aim to make modern art accessible to a wider audience, featuring works that are often controversial and thought-provoking.

Adult price: £15

Good for age: 18+

  • Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Interior view of the Picasso Museum showing paintings on the white walls

Bucket List Experience

Picasso Museum Barcelona

Barcelona holds significance in Picasso’s life as it was where he spent his formative years and received his artistic education. Although he never returned to Spain after the Civil War, he wanted Barcelona to have works he had created there as a young man.

In 1963, this museum opened in a restored Gothic palace on Barcelona’s medieval millionaires’ row, which had degenerated into a slum, leading the way for a revival of the now hyper-trendy Born District. Donations over the decades have added to the collection, including Picasso’s 58 paintings inspired by Velazquez’s Las Meninas.

Today, it showcases an extensive collection of Picasso’s early works, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and sketches. It’s an absorbing insight into Picasso’s artistic evolution and creative development, and the influences that shaped his groundbreaking style.

Adult price: £11

Good for age: 18+

Logistics

Price: Free
Minimum age: 0
Age suitable: 18+
When: All year around
Duration: Any

Who to go with: organised tours

5

Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity

  • Barcelona

Jump on a bike with us and let's take a morning ride along the beach to Barcelona’s up and coming neighborhood of Poble Nou, where the remains of the industrial revolution meets the ever expanding digital revolution.  Being home to the largest and newest street art murals by some of the Europe’s top street artists, this a fantastic opportunity to see these colorful works of street art up close.

Price €34

Min age 0

Rating 4.91 / 5 [349 ratings]

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  • Barcelona

Permanent collection of the National Art Museum of Catalonia The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya takes visitors on an uninterrupted journey through a thousand years of Catalan art from the 10th to the 20th centuries. The museum houses the world’s finest collection of Romanesque frescoes and works by the leading exponents of the Catalan art nouveau movement, modernisme, including Gaudí and Casas. A visit to the rooftop viewing point, with its panoramic views of the city, is the perfect way to round off your visit. The museum also offers different temporary exhibitions: Antoni Fabrés (from 08/31/2019 to 09/29/2019) El Víbora. Comix contracultural (from 21/06/2019 to 29/09/2019) Oriol Maspons (from 05/07/2019 to 12/01/2020)

Price €12

Min age 6

Rating 4.42 / 5 [159 ratings]

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  • Barcelona

Walk through the Open Air Museum of Barcelona. Raval, also known as the “barrio Xino”, Raval is the antic popular neighbourhood of the city centre. You’ll be guided through its authentic streets, where graffiti still lives actively amongst occupied houses, big murals and hidden spots. Come and discover some major pieces by artists such as SIXE and C215, and hang around in the legendary skate spot Tres Chemineas.

Price €27

Min age 0

Rating 4.83 / 5 [66 ratings]

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  • Barcelona

Combine art and eating on this 4-hour-long tapas bar crawl and exploration of Barcelona's art museums. In a small group of no more than eight, visit the Picasso Museum and Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, also known as MACBA, and enjoy authentic tapas (small plates) at various local bars along the way.

Price €130

Min age 3

Rating 4.85 / 5 [27 ratings]

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  • Barcelona

Great opportunity to enjoy a cultural and artistic private tour in a cosmopolitan city like Barcelona. Take a tour with your own private guide inside the Picasso Museum and after that get a chance to enjoy your own private tour in the Borne or the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. Enjoy a tour with your own private guide in one of the most emblematic museums of Barcelona. Pablo Picasso is a genius of the art and this tour will give you a perspective of his works. In this museum you can find more than 4200 works in the permanent collection. Once this tour is finished, accompanied by your private guide you can enjoy a two-hour private walking tour either in the Borne area or the Gothic Quarter. You will be able to enjoy monuments like: Basilique of Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona's Santa Eulalia's Cathedral, and other great and unique corners, and maybe even the old wall of Barcelona with hundred of years of history.

Price €244

Min age 0

Rating 4.6 / 5 [10 ratings]

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