Barcelona's best museums
Discover Barcelona's best museums
Famed Spanish artists such as Picasso, Dalí and Velázquez, among others, run the gamut of the 'isms' - Cubism, Impressionism, Modernism and Post-Modernism (to name but a few). But in Barcelona's museums you'll also find plenty of collections that span medieval times to the 1990s. Contemporary works by established and lesser-known artists are omnipresent too; and almost every museum organises temporary exhibitions that fill in the gaps (momentarily at least) in their permanent collections. Here is our list of suggestions...
Fundació Joan Miró
Josep Lluís Sert, who spent the years of the Franco dictatorship as dean of the School of Design at Harvard University, designed one of the greatest museum buildings in the world on his return. Approachable, light and airy, these white walls and arches house a collection of more than 225 paintings,
- s/n, Parc de Montjuïc, 08038
Museu Picasso
When it opened in 1963, the museum dedicated to Barcelona's favourite adopted son was housed in the Palau Aguilar. Nearly five decades later, the permanent collection of some 3,800 pieces has now been spread across five adjoining palaces, two of which are devoted to temporary exhibitions. By no
- 15-23, Montcada, 08003
Macba. Museu d'Art Contemporani
If you're used to being soft-soaped by eager-to-please art centres, you'll have to adjust to the cryptic minimalism of the MACBA, where art is taken very seriously indeed. Yet if you can navigate the fridge-like interior of Richard Meier's enormous edifice, accept that much of the permanent
- 1, Plaça dels Àngels, 08001
MNAC: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
'One museum, a thousand years of art' is the slogan of the National Museum, and the collection provides a dizzying overview of Catalan art from the 12th to the 20th centuries. In recent years the museum has added an extra floor to absorb the section of the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection that was
- Parc de Montjuïc, 08038
Fundació Antoni Tàpies
Antoni Tàpies exploded on to the art scene in the 1950s when he began to incorporate waste paper, mud and rags into his paintings, eventually moving on to the point where his works included whole pieces of furniture, running water and girders. Today, he's Barcelona's most celebrated living artist,
- 255, Aragó, 08007
Fundació Francisco Godia
Since being transplanted from a first-floor flat to the Casa Garriga Nogués – a Modernista masterpiece in its own right – this vast private art collection now has enough room to breathe, with two floors of exhibition space. Godia was a Formula 1 driver for Maserati in the 1950s who funnelled his
- 250, Diputació, 08007
Arts Santa Mònica
In a controversial move, the Generalitat appointed new director Vicenç Altaió to pump up the lacklustre visitor numbers for this contemporary art space. Altaió has created 'a multidisciplinary centre for art, science, thought and communication', although detractors fear that the governmental
- 7, La Rambla, 08001
Fundació Suñol
Opened in 2007, the foundation's two floors house the contemporary art collection of businessman Josep Suñol. There are 100 works on show at a time, including painting, sculpture and photography, shuffled every six months (in January and July) from an archive of 1,200 pieces amassed over 35 years.
- 98, Passeig de Gràcia, 08008
Share your thoughts
