Urban Landscape and Quality of Life Institute – Barcelona City Council

Contact

Inma Pascual & Lluís Bosch

Urban Landscape and Quality of Life Institute
Barcelona City Council
6-8 Av. Drassanes, planta 21
E – 08001 Barcelona

phone +34 932 562 509

mail  ipascual@bcn.cat

The originality of Catalan Art Nouveau, known as Modernisme, is the result of an apparent contradiction between tradition and modernity. It represented the recovery and re-examination of Catalonia’s own history and traditions by a society that also wanted to be cosmopolitan and modern. During the decade of the 1880s, architects and designers revived the past with styles which were simultaneously medieval, archaic and cosmopolitan.

Major artists

Black and white portrait of Antoni Maria Gallissà i Soqué
Antoni Maria Gallissà i Soqué 
Architect
Juli Maria Fossas i Martínez 
Architect
Black and white portrait of Pere Falqués i Urpí
Pere Falqués i Urpí 
Architect and urban planner
Black and white portrait of Josep Domènech i Estapà
Josep Domènech i Estapà 
Architect
Portait of Juli Batllevell
Juli Batllevell 
Architect
Silver portrait of Joaquim Bassegoda i Amigó
Joaquim Bassegoda i Amigó 
Architect
Black and white portrait of Bonaventura Bassegoda i Amigó
Bonaventura Bassegoda i Amigó 
Architect and art critic
Portrait of Josep Puig i Cadafalch
Josep Puig i Cadafalch 
Architect, art historian, archaeologist and politician
Black and white portrait of Lluís Domènech i Montaner
Lluís Domènech i Montaner
Architect, designer, historian and politician
Silver portrait of Antoni Gaudí i Cornet
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet 
Architect and designer

Continued text...

After 1895, this Catalan movement connected well with the new modern styles that were being developed in Europe. For the first years there was preference for the abstract sinuous forms of the French and Belgian Art Nouveau. This was later on succeeded by an attachment to the more sober Germanic Jugendstil and Secessionstil forms. The neutral standing of Spain during the First World War and a certain economic well-being derived from this, allowed Modernisme to continue right on to the 1920s, which is another of the peculiarities if this Catalan movement compared to its European counterparts. Modernisme spread across the territories of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia, appearing as the definitive style of the bourgeoisie in the new industrial cities and in the provincial capitals. Houses, summer villas and public buildings as well as factories, industrial complexes and agricultural co-operatives became identified with abstract Modernisme forms.

The construction of the Eixample district in Barcelona allowed the city to grow beyond its 18th-century walls, thus extending the urban limits. Economic prosperity encouraged investment in construction and the modification of the municipal by-laws in 1891, changes in urban typography and many new decorative licenses. Three great names in architectural Modernisme left some of their best works: Antoni Gaudi with his abstract conception of architecture, Josep Puig i Cadafalch with a more historical perception and Lluis Domenech i Montaner who surrounded himself with a whole band of artisans and industrialists. But there were many other architects including Enric Sagnier, Josep Domenech i Estapà and merchants and industrialists such as the Count of Güell and the Marquis of Comillas dynasties who were enthralled by Modernisme and acted as important sponsors of these architects.