Contemporary art is becoming more and more popular every year in Europe. Many installations, spaces and museums open annually. Spain is one of the countries in which contemporary art is developing especially intensively, the proof of this is in the city of Barcelona - Museum of Modern Art.
A brief history of the museum
The Museum of Modern Art is a highlight of the capital of Catalonia! In 1959, Alexander Pellitzer gathered a group of artists who hoped to create a new museum of modern art in Barcelona. Until 1986, the idea was not realized until the city administration invited the American architect Richard Meyer to design the building. Architectural critics Francesca Mirrales and Rosa Querelt wrote an accompanying article. In 1995, the Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona was finally opened and presented to the public.
Building
The building was built by architect Richard Meyer and was finally completed on November 28, 1995 in the El Raval area on Angel Square, which is a famous gathering place for skateboard lovers and is considered one of the best venues in the world.
Meyer faced a difficult task - to build a room whose appearance would reflect the diversity and variability of works of modern art, which the architect had never seen. It was decided to build a museum on the Square of Angels in the old city to highlight it. As a result, they built a magnificent minimalistic white building in the style of architectural modernism, 35 meters high and 120 meters long. It has three main galleries: two in the main building and one in the adjacent tower.
About the museum
It is an important cultural center with a fast-growing collection of art created from the mid-20th century.
Among the bohemian cities of Barcelona, the Museum of Modern Art is known for its “inner world”. The main collection has grown five times since its foundation and now amounts to 5, 000 works: paintings, installations and art objects of such famous artists as Anthony Tapis, Mikel Barcelo, Kli, Baskat and other contemporary creators. Mostly exhibited works from the middle of the twentieth century and beyond, most of them were created by Spanish and Catalan artists. The museum demonstrated three thematically united periods: the first - 40-60s of the twentieth century, the second - 60-70s, and the third - from that moment to the present. The museum expands the temporary exposition once every three months - six months.
In 2011, the Barcelona Museum of Modern Art was offered to exhibit 800 works by the radical group of conceptual artists Art & Language, but because of unrest in Catalonia, the proposal was withdrawn.
The museum holds lectures, seminars, video conferences and excursions. The museum building also has an educational center, a huge archive and library, which stores many magazines, collections of essays, dissertations and books on the history of art.
Photos of the Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona can often be seen in the ratings of must-see places.
Visitor Information
The Museum of Modern Art is located at 1 Angelov Square, Universitet metro station, Barcelona, Catalonia.
You can get to it by public transport:
- Take bus number 102 to the Ploshchad Angelov stop.
- By metro L1, L2 to the station "University" (Metro Universitat) or L2 to the station "Catalonia" (Catalunya).
Tickets to the Barcelona Museum of Modern Art for adult visitors cost 10 euros, for pensioners over 65 and children under 14 years old - free of charge.
Museum work schedule:
- On weekdays, the museum is open from 11:00 to 19:30.
- On Saturday - from ten in the morning to nine in the evening, from four to eight, admission is free for everyone.
- On holidays and Sundays, the museum can be visited from ten to three.
- The museum is closed on Tuesdays, exceptions: public holidays on Tuesday.
