Located on the intersection of Gran Via and Roger de Lluria, the Fountain of Diana is a six and a half metre tall marble fountain topped by a statue of the Roman goddess Diana the huntress. The Renaissance styled Fountain by Venancio Vallmitjana was commissioned by Barcelona city council in 1913. Apparently, the young goddess …
Santiago Rusiñol was a key figure in Catalan Modernism, an artistic movement encompassing art, architecture, design and literature. Born in Barcelona in 1861, he was the son of a wealthy family which owned a textile manufacturing company founded by his grandfather Jaume Rüsiñol. As a teenager, Rusiñol started sketching and painting in his free time …
Located on Avinguda Diagonal, this four and a half metre concrete and bronze monument to inventor and political activist Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol was inaugurated in 1963. Created by Josep Maria Subirachs, the monument includes a replica of Monturiol’s most famous invention, the steam powered submarine Ictíneo II which was first launched in the Port …
Read moreMonument to Narcís Monturiol : Inventor of the Steam Powered Submarine
The streets of Barcelona are often likened to an open-air museum or art gallery. From the famous Art Nouveau architecture to monuments, sculptures and street art, there’s something to catch your eye at every turn. Two of the most unusual statues are Thinking Bull (Brau Pensador) and Flirty Giraffe (Girafa Coqueta) which are located at …
Read moreA Thoughtful Bull and a Very Flirtatious Giraffe (Statues)
The Wounded Star (Catalan: L’Estel Ferit) by Rebecca Horn is one of several contemporary sculptures which were installed on Barcelona’s waterfront in preparation for the 1992 Olympics. The rusty iron tower is a homage to the rundown chiringuitos (beach bars) and seafood stalls which stood here before the area was refurbished and gentrified in the …
Read moreThe Wounded Star Sculpture by Rebecca Horn (L’Estel Ferit)
Balcons de Barcelona (Barcelona Balconies) is a large scale trompe l’oil style mural painted on the south-west elevation of an apartment building in the l’Eixample neighbourhood, near the Sagrada Familia. Part of a campaign called Barcelona posa’t guapa (Barcelona get pretty) the mural was painted in 1992 during the in the run up to the …
Marià Fortuny i Marsal was a renowned 19th Century Catalan painter whose best known works are on display in the National Art Museum of Barcelona (MNAC) and the Prado museum in Madrid. Born in Reus in 1838, Fortuny studied art at the la LLotja art school in Barcelona before moving to Rome to continue his …
One of Barcelona’s best known pieces of public art is a 30m long blood red mural intended to raise awareness to HIV and AIDS. The mural was painted in 1989 by American artist Keith Haring who had been diagnosed HIV positive three years earlier. Famous for his graffiti-inspired artwork on the New York Metro, Haring …
Read moreKeith Haring’s Mural: Todos Juntos Podemos Parar el SIDA
The monument to sportspeople of the sea (Catalan: Esportistes del Mar) by Joaquim Ros i Sabaté is one of 3 monuments commissioned by the Real Asamblea Español de Capitanes de Yate during the 1960s, all of which are located in Barcelona’s historic harbour (el Port Vell). The rusty iron statue which represents a yacht at …
One of the most striking pieces of street art in Barcelona’s Poblenou neighbourhood was painted by Spanish artist Gonzalo Borondo for the 2015 Open Walls Conference. The painting’s title, Fer llenya, is a term used by Castellers (the people who build human towers) and refers to the collapse of a tower. It’s easy to assume …
Read moreFer Llenya: Gonzalo Borondo’s Tribute to Castellers