Museu Picasso

The museum, dedicated exclusively to the work of the great Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, comprises five ancient adjoined buildings. The collection in this popular museum is displayed chronologically so you can understand and witness the artistic growth of Picasso during his career. One interesting section of the museum shows Picasso's personal take on Valazquez's famous "Las Meninas." He painted his own version of the masterpiece again and again.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC)

The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), a national museum, is the result of marrying two formerly separate museums-- the Museu d'Art de Catalunya with its emphasis on Gothic and Renaissance works and the Museu d'Art Modern which housed works from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The museum has over nine thousand works with over a thousand on permanent display. If you include the drawings and prints plus the collection of coins and medals, the museum has accumulated nearly a quarter of a million objects in its attempt to represent more than just painting and sculpture/

The Romanesque Gallery is a highlight of the museum and features medieval murals, panels, carvings and sculpture from the 11 through 13th centuries. Two of its sections are devoted to iconography of saints and angels.

The Gothic Gallery showcases the religious-themed works produced from the Middle Ages until the Renaissance. One of its sections is devoted to funerary art such as sculptures of the deceased and their gravestones. The gallery also includes various offshoots and variations of the Gothic style, for example, the secular International Gothic style that predicted the Renaissance movement.

The Baroque and Renaissance Gallery has works by Goya, Velazquez ("Saint Paul"), Rubens, El Greco, Titian and Tintoretto.

The 19th and 20th Century Art Gallery focuses most heavily on works from the late 1800's through the early 1900's. Interestingly, the museum did not collect most of the works years after they were confirmed as important but during the same time period they were being produced. Sections of the gallery are set aside for Realism, Modernisme, Impressionism and the Avant-Garde.

Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA)

This museum picks up where the MNAC leaves off, concentrating basically on works of the second half of the 20th century. The MACBA is not shy about acknowledging that its collection has been blanketed in controversy among its backers. One faction insists upon focusing on works being produced now while disregarding older works that other museums would consider masterpieces. A second faction prefers to collect the works of the giants of the 20th century while waiting for contemporary pieces to prove their longevity and relevance.
Controversy notwithstanding, the museum's collection includes works by Basquiat, Botero, Motherwell, Miro, Rauschenberg and Smithson.

Museu Fundació Joan Miró

Overlooking Barcelona, this museum celebrates the work of Barcelona native Joan Miro, one of the giants of 20th century surrealist painting and sculpture. Surrealists disregarded what the eyes saw but concentrated on capturing what the subconscious saw. No one was a more devout member of the movement than Miro.