Posts Tagged ‘picasso museum’

« Older Entries

City Guide: El Born

February 11th, 2010

The fashionable youth have turned this working-class area into the trendiest place in town, where yesterday’s charm blends with today’s lifestyle. Art galleries, fashion shops, design stores, traditional pubs, quality food; it’s the locals’ favourite neighbourhood. Not too crowded & close to the Barceloneta harbour and beaches. Medieval streets and sunny squares where you can wander during the day and zigzag in the street lights shadows during the Movida nights…

Carrer Montcada : beautiful medieval palaces, Picasso museum.

Passeig del Born : much quieter trees and benches have taken over the knights tournaments fought there in the Middle Ages.

Santa Maria del Mar basilica: : wonder of the Catalan gothic style. Yesterday the sailors, today the to-be-weds, everyone goes there to meditate before the big thrill!
Ciutadella park : a picnic or a nap on the grass, small boats, zoo, activities for kids, 3 museums.

El Borne

Leave your comment »

Posted in Barcelona Guide

Tags:

Discover Barcelona with our City Guides – select an area

February 11th, 2010

Select an area for more details: El Gotic – Rambla, El Born, Eixample, Gracia, El Raval, La Barceloneta


El Gotic – Rambla

The historical centre of Barcelona from Plaza Cataluna down to the old harbour (Columbus statue), alongside the Rambla:  1,3 km…

To be seen :

  • The Ramblas & the living statues
  • The Plaza Real
  • Medieval streets
  • Tapas bars, shops, restaurants

El Gotic - Rambla

El Borne

Previously a working-class area, the Born is now the trendiest place in town, where yesterday’s charm blends with today’s lifestyle. Art…

El Borne

  • Picasso museum
  • Santa Maria del Mar basilica
  • Ciutadella’s park
  • Fashion shops & trendy bars

Eixample

The new city: the end of the 19th century the city spread to the north with 9km2 of building blocks. The economic & commercial nerve…

To be seen :

  • Passeig de Gracia boulevard
  • Modernist architecture
  • Gaudi Sagrada Familia

Eixample

Gracia

You will love this charming neighbourhood, an ancient village enclosed in the city, in the centre of Barcelona. Many shops, retro workshops and…

To be seen :

  • Plaza del Sol by night
  • Trendy restaurants

Gracia

El Raval

The Raval used to be a low-class area & is divided into two areas by the Carrer Hospital.
NORTHERN PART: upcoming and hip part of Barcelona!

To be seen :

  • MACBA : contemporary art
  • Boqueria market
  • Palau Güell

El Raval

La Barceloneta

Let’s go to the playa by tube?
Barcelona: 4km of beaches, 10 min away from the centre and 272
sunny days a year. Take the sun…

To be seen :

  • 4 km of beaches
  • The Olympic port
  • Seafood restaurants

La Barceloneta

Leave your comment »

Posted in Barcelona Guide

Tags:

Barcelona Guide : Historical Centre Ciutat Vella

December 14th, 2009

Ciutad Vella (catalan)  means Old Town.

Until the end of the 19th century, the historical centre or Ciutat Vella ( the Gothic area, La Ribera, La Rambla and El Raval) was the city of Barcelona. It is famous for its historic monuments, narrow streets and its bohemian atmosphere. You can walk for hours in its medieval streets wandering how it must have been living in Barcelona with the bourgeois guilds in times when Barcelona was an important trading centre for the whole mediterranean.

The Gothic quarter is the heart of the medieval part of the city which, until the mid 19th century, was contained within the city walls. A walk through its lovely streets brings us to the Cathedral which was built in the 13th century. The outside has finished its refurbishings this year and you can visit the inside of this beautiful church. Nearby, you can find the Plaza del Rei with Gothic buildings which were a part of the Palau Major, the residence of the Catalan monarchs in the 9th century. In one of the buildings you can visit the museum of the history of the city of Barcelona and in summer the square is used for concerts of the Grec Festival.

This area is the historic and political centre of Barcelona. On the Plaza Sant Jaume you can see the town hall and the palace of the Generalitat de Catalunya ( The Catalan Government) both with its Gothic façade and possible to visit on set days.

The Gothic quarter is also the area of el Call, the medieval Jewish quarter including the streets La Palla, Banys Nous, Boqueria and Call. You will find many nice shops in this part of the Gothic area.

If you want to see more of its beauty walk into La Ribera area, this part of the city is also called the Born area. Here you can wander around in the medieval streets of which the most famous one is Calle Montcada. In one of the former palaces which are situated in this beautiful small street you can find the Picasso museum which is worth a visit.
There are many shops of designers in the Born.

La Rambla is a lively and entertaining spectacle. It begins at the Plaza Catalunya and continues down to the Columbus statue in the harbour. Here you can see the human statues which are great ( Don´t forget to give them some money before you take a picture). You can stop at the Boquería market which is the oldest covered market of Barcelona ( you can buy some fresh fruit, fresh juice, fruit salad) or have some churros with chocolate in the Opera Café in front of the Liceu theatre. Churros are made from dough and are small tubes which you can dip in a cup of hot chocolate. It´s a typical spanish breakfast or a perfect ´merienda´ in the afternoon.

On the left side of the Rambla ( looking towards the Plaza Catalunya) you enter in the Raval area. This multicultural area is interesting for it´s museum of modern art MACBA or the museum of contemporary art CCCB. You can enjoy a lunch menu at mid day on the terrace of the C3 bar just behind the CCCB or at one of the terraces next to the MACBA where you can have a tapas menu.

Leave your comment »

Posted in Barcelona, Barcelona Guide, What to visit in Barcelona

Tags:

Art Ticket for the 7 leading Museums of Barcelona

November 6th, 2009

Be part of art!

art-ticket

Barcelona counts with many interesting museums and lots are well worth a vist, but usually the time and the budget for museum visits are limited during a holdiday. But for art lovers and those really interested into visting at least the  7 leading art centres in Barcelona, there is the Art Ticket available. The Art Ticket is available for only 22 € and is valid during a period of 6 months. Just one ticket grants your access to the leading art exhibitions in Barcelona. If you do not manage to visit all 7 museums during your stay, its another good reason to visit Barcelona soon again.

First Sunday of each month, free Museum entrance for everybody (in almost all museums).

The ticket includes the entrance fee to the following museums:

* CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona) is located in C/ Montalegre 5 in the Raval area and just right next to the MACBA museum, which makes it easy and very convenient to visit both Museums during one day. Just take a break in between and enjoy a drink on a terrace in front of the MACBA museum and watch the skaters who come every day to practise in front of the museum, or take a stroll in the fashionable Raval area. Just around the CCCB is the hip Vintage shop HOLALA! Plaza with clothing, furniture and art books. Located on Plaza de Castilla 2. The CCCB host as well a nice museum shop with books and nice gift ideas. Web: www.cccb.org/en/

* MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona) , Plaza dels Angels. This museum is also worth a visit for architecture fans. The building got designed by the amercian architect Richard Meier and is based on rationalism and alludes to the masters of Modern Architecture, particularly Le Corbusier. Since september 2006, the old Church of the Convent dels Angels, got converted into the new exhibition space MACBA. Web: www.macba.es

* Picasso Museum , C/ Montcada 15-23. The museum is situated in 5 large old palaces from the 13th – 15th centuries. The palaces are a good example of the Gothic Catalan style and they are built surrounding a courtyard with with an open stairway. Web: www.museupicasso.bcn.cat/en/

All Sundays free from 3 pm.

First Sunday of each month, free Museum entrance for everybody.

* Joan Miro Foundation The foundation is located in a beautiful surrounding on the Montjuic mountain. The Montjuic hosts also a large number of museums, but is at the same time the biggest green space (and parc) of Barcelona with great views over the city. Before heading up to the Montjuic, you might want to visit first the MNAC, on the bottom of Montjuic. Web: http://fundaciomiro-bcn.org

* MNAC (Museo Nacional d’Art de Catalunya). The Palau Nacional on Plaza Espanya, the emblematic building of the 1929 International Exhibition is the home of the MNAC. In front of this fairytale like castle is the Magic Fountain with its beautiful water, light and music shows. Web: www.mnac.cat

* La Pedrera (meaning: the quarry),  Passeig de Gracia 100. One of the famous works of Gaudi and after the Sagrada Familia the most visited monument or museum of Barcelona. The building (which was supposed to be an apartment building) is the museum itself. The roof top terrace with its futuristic forms and pillars is not only impressive because of its views over the city center. Web: www.lapedreraeducacio.org/eng

* Antoní Tàpies Foundation , C/ Arago 255.  The Barcelona born artist Antoni Tapies created the foundation to promote modern and contemporary art. The foundation is in a former Editorial publishing house, a work of the Modernist architect Lluis Domenech i Montaner, constructed between 1880 and 1885. The building combines exposed brick and iron. Web:www.fundaciotapies.org

You can buy your articket BCN at:

  • Ticket desks at each of the 7 art centers
  • Tel-Entrada +34 902 10 12 12 / www.telentrada.com
  • Tourism Offices in Barcelona:
    Plaza Catalunya, Plaza Sant Jaume, Estació de Sants trainstation
  • Web Turisme de Barcelona, at the site’s shop: www.barcelonaturisme.com

Leave your comment »

Posted in Museums

Tags:

The Picasso Museum in Barcelona

September 22nd, 2009

picasso-museum

Picasso Museum
Address: Montcada 15-23  08003 Barcelona
Ph. (+34) 93 256 30 00
Opening from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Closed on Mondays ( except bank holidays)
Website Picasso Museum

The Picasso Museum in Barcelona is a key reference for understanding the formative years of Pablo Ruiz Picasso. The genius of the young artist is revealed through the more than 3,800 works that make up the permanent collection.

The Picasso Museum occupies five large town houses or palaces on the street Montcada The original palaces date from the 13th-15th centuries, undergoing major refurbishments over time, the most important in the 18th century. The palaces are a good example of Catalan civic gothic style. They have a common structure surrounding a courtyard with access to the main floor via an outdoor open stairway.

Picasso lived key years in Barcelona – those of his apprenticeship as an artist. He established and maintained strong links to the city throughout his life and it was here where he wanted his museum to be. That was why in 1960, on Picasso’s own express wish, his friend and personal secretary Jaume Sabartes proposed the creation of a museum dedicated to the artist’s work to the City Council of Barcelona. By 1963, the museum was a reality and opened its doors in the gothic Palau Aguilar located at number 15 Carrer de Montcada.

Picasso was born on October 25, 1881 in Malaga, his family  moved to Barcelona in 1895.  He passed the entrance examination for the Barcelona School of Fine Arts at the age of 14 in just one day and was allowed to skip the first two classes. According to one of many legends about the artist’s life, his father, recognizing the extraordinary talent of his son, gave him his brushes and palette and vowed to paint never again in his life.

During his lifetime, the artist went through different periods of characteristic painting styles. The Blue Period of Picasso lasted from about 1900 to 1904. It is characterized by the use of different shades of blue underlining the melancholic style of his subjects .

During Picasso’s Rose Period from about 1905 to 1906, his style moved away from the Blue Period to a friendly pink tone with subjects taken from the world of the circus.

Inspired by the works of Paul Cezanne, he developed together with George Braque and Juan Gris  the Cubist style. In Cubism, subjects are reduced to basic geometrical shapes. In a later version of Cubism, called synthetic cubism, several views of an object or a person are shown simultaneously from a different perspective in one picture.

In 1937 the artist created his landmark painting Guernica, a protest against the barbaric air raid against a Basque village during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso’s Guernica is a huge mural on canvas in black, white and grey which was created for the Spanish Pavilion of the Paris World’s Fair in 1937. In Guernica, Picasso used symbolic forms – that are repeatedly found in his works following Guernica – like a dying horse or a weeping woman. Picasso had disallowed the return of Guernica to Spain until the end of the rule of Fascism by General Franco.

A new building is being constructed on a square near the Picasso museum in order to enlarge the museum’s  space. May 2010

Leave your comment »

Posted in Museums

Tags: