The Minister for Innovation, Universities and Enterprise for the Catalan Generalitat Government, Josep Huguet, inaugurated the new information centre of the Colònia Güell on Sunday, 18 October 2009, coinciding with the IX edition of the Colònia’s Modernista Festival.
The Cerdanyola Art Museum was opened on 10 September 2009 in the Can Domènech Modernista building designed by the architect Gaietà Buïgas, with later additions and changes by his nephew Eduard Maria Balcells, who in his dayincorporatedsome outstanding stained glass windows into the building that have now been restored. In order to house the museum, the Cerdanyola City Council carried out restoration work on the Modernista building, which was almost in ruins, between 2004 and 2009. This intervention involved the reconstruction of its façade, the restoration of Balcells’ stained glass windows and adapting the building to be able to function as a museum.
A must for lovers of Art Nouveau architecture and culture is this charming festival, which is celebrated in Bad Nauheim in September every year. The 2009 is themed “Jugendstil moves Bad Nauheim” and will take place from 5-13 September 2009.
List of prize-winners of the draw Vine vestit d’època a la Fira (Come to the Fair in period dress). See whether you’re going to Germany!
8.6.2009
The Fifth Barcelona Modernista Fair, organised by CorEixample and Barcelona Council’s Urban Landscape Institute, was held in Carrer Girona, between the Diagonal and Carrer València, on 22, 23 and 24 May with a lot of participation by the public in all the activities. Click on this news item to read a report and see images of the Fair and all the activities.
On 30 June 2009, the mayor of Girona and president of the Rafael Masó Foundation, Anna Pagans, and the chief executive officer of Barcelona City Council’s Institute of Urban Landscape and Quality of Life, Antoni Sorolla, signed an agreement for Girona City Council and the Rafael Masó Foundation to join the Art Nouveau European Route - Ruta Europea del Modernisme.
Since May 2009, Sant Feliu de Llobregat has its Modernista Route, for which more than 20 buildings and groups of buildings have been selected, of which those designed by the architects Gabriel Borrell, Josep M. Jujol and Antoni Coll are of special note. The route follows the line of the Expansion Plan drawn up in 1902 by Gabriel Borrell, who was the municipal architect at that time. The Route is therefore particularly interesting because of the location of the buildings within the newly enlarged section of the town.
On 22, 23 and 24 May 2009, Cor Eixample, the Association of Retail Traders and Professionals of the Right Eixample district, and the Municipal Urban Landscape Institute of the Barcelona City Council are holding the fifth Modernista Festival of Barcelona.
21.11.08
On 20 October the Francisco Godia Foundation, dedicated to the Barcelona entrepreneur, collector and racing driver of the same name (1921-1990), opened its new headquarters in the former Casa Garriga Nogués (1899-1905) at Carrer Diputació 250, a Modernista work by the architect Enric Sagnier. To celebrate the occasion, the Foundation is holding a temporary exhibition of a large part of its private collection, with a total of 260 works of mediaeval, Baroque and 19th-20th century art, including Modernista works, and a montage consisting of a selection of ceramics from several production centres throughout the Iberian Peninsula. The Foundation plans to offer a permanent exhibition, and also two temporary exhibitions a year with material from private collections.
The documentary Art Nouveau and Society (Modernisme i Societat in the Catalan version) was given its Barcelona premiere on 22 October 2008 at Hotel Casa Fuster and will be shown in the hotel’s carriage entrance until 22 November. Art Nouveau and Society was produced by the Réseau Art Noveau Network -of which Barcelona City Council is a founder member- with the support of the European Union’s Culture 2000 programme.
In 2008, Casa Fuster (1908-1911; Passeig de Gràcia, 132) by the Modernista architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which now houses Hotel Casa Fuster, is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the start of work on its construction.
Esplugues de Llobregat Town Council is inaugurating this exhibition which will be open to the public in the local Pare Miquel library from 22 October to 23 November. As a town that was in the forefront of Modernista ceramic production, Esplugues is part of these nine Modernista routes organised by Barcelona Provincial Council’s Network of Municipalities and, in particular, the one entitled El Baix Llobregat: de Gaudí al Modernisme popular (El Baix Llobregat: from Gaudí to Popular Modernisme) together with Sant Joan Despí.
On 17, 18 and 19 October 2008, Associació La Colònia Modernista and Santa Coloma de Cervelló Town Council, are again staging the Modernisme Festival which will include various activities to do with the municipality’s heritage. On these days the public will be able to visit the grounds of the industrial village’s old textile mill and the house of the village’s owner and founder, the industrialist and patron Eusebi Güell. Other attractions include an exhibition about Gaudí, a Modernista fair with a variety of stalls, on Saturday and Sunday morning, and a lot of people in period dress re-creating the Modernisme years.
On 12 and 13 September 2008, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., you will be able to enjoy two open days at Finca Sansalvador, designed by the architect Jujol, giving everyone the chance to see the restoration work that has been carried out on it and discover the artificial caves excavated inside it in the early 20th century.
Finca Sansalvador
Passeig de la Mare de Déu del Coll, 79
Friday 12th, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday 13th, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
On 23, 24 and 25 May 2007, Cor Eixample, the Association of Retail Traders and Professionals of the Right Eixample district, and the Municipal Urban Landscape Institute of the Barcelona City Council are holding the fourth Modernista Festival of Barcelona.
Palau Güell was partly opened to the public again last February, after being closed for restoration in late 2004. The partial visit is free and takes in the main façade (which has recovered its original appearance), the ground floor and the stables.
A Gallery of Creators is a small encyclopaedia of the leading figures who created Modernisme in Barcelona. Architects, painters, sculptors, writers, cabinet makers, graphic artists, and also developers, patrons, financiers, etc., all of them people who, through their efforts and with their passion for creating a “new art”, were responsible for Barcelona’s being regarded today as the world capital of Modernisme.
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Former Montaner i Simón Editor’s project of Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1881-1886), will be closed for renovation work during the first half of 2008. The renovation will adapt the building to comply with new safety and evacuation regulations and meet the needs of individuals with reduced mobility. It also plans to remodel the entrance of the museum in order to improve the current bookshop and reception areas.
During this period of closure, the Fundació Antoni Tàpies will present some exhibitions and series of activities in other institutions.
The Palau de la Música concert hall was commissioned by the Orfeó Català choral society in 1904 from the Art-Nouveau architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The foundation stone for the building was laid on Saint George’s day in 1905, and the hall was officially opened on 9 February 1908. The centenary celebrations will be launched on its hundredth birthday, over the weekend of 9-10 February 2008. The Orfeó society has been busy making the building ready for this occasion by refurbishing the concert hall and renovating its seating, as well as restoring the outside walls.
The Gaudí Centre was opened to visitors on 27 June 2007, and is a place for interpreting the work of architect Antoni Gaudí. Through interactive displays, projects, designs, personal objects and items, visitors can better understand the work and the life of the brilliant architect. A visit to the centre takes about two hours and there are audio guides available in several languages. The Reus Tourist Office is now located on the ground floor of the building. Moreover, with the Gaudí Centre, Reus is contributing to its Modernism Route. (Click on the news item for more information).
Actor and film director Woody Allen visited the Church of the Holy Family on 12 June during his search for locations for his next movie, which will be shot in Barcelona and Oviedo. The film will narrate the experiences of a tourist from the United States visiting the city. This will not be the first time that Modernism has been used as a set in a cinema production, for example, the Casas Ramos houses, in plaza de Lesseps, where Pedro Almodóvar filmed scenes in the movie Todo sobre mi madre (All about my mother).
The 422 boxes were found by a team of researchers from the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya (Catalonian National Archive) on 16/11/2006, when they were working at the modernist designer and architect’s house. He designed, Casa Amatller, the Palau del Baró de Quadras and Casa de les Punxes and other buildings. The documents have been acquired by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia for 1.4 million euros. This purchase guarantees public ownership of the material, which will soon be made available to researchers from the Catalonian National Archive.
On 18, 19 and 20 May 2007, Cor Eixample, the Association of Retail Traders and Professionals of the Right Eixample district, and the Municipal Urban Landscape Institute of the Barcelona City Council are holding the third Modernista Festival of Barcelona.
As of 1 October 2006 the Route voucher book, provided free on purchase of the guidebook, will include a new discount on the price of all CaixaForum activities.
After General Primo de Rivera’s coup d’état, Josep Puig i Cadafalch hid a series of documents belonging to the Region of Catalonia, of which he was President, to safeguard them from the dictatorship. In July 2006, these documents, together with several architectural drawings and projects, were discovered by chance when a historical search was organised at his home in calle Provença, 231 in Barcelona.
One of the new features of the Modernisme Route are guided tours of Palau Montaner, Pavellons Güell and the grounds of Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. Previous booking visits are also possible.
The Let’s go out guide of the Barcelona Modernisme Route invites you to discover the city’s heritage whilst having a pleasant time in fourteen establishments that preserve their original beauty after a hundred years.
On 4, 5 and 6 May 2006, Cor Eixample, the Association of Retail Traders and Professionals of the Right Eixample district, and the Municipal Urban Landscape Institute of the Barcelona City Council are holding the second Modernista Festival of Barcelona.
