Modern Barcelona

Around 1900, Barcelona developed into one of Europe's most dynamic cultural centres. Against a backdrop of industrial change, rapid urban growth and social conflict, Catalan Modernisme emerged – an extraordinary art movement that encompassed architecture, painting, design and literature. The innovative scene was characterised by contrasting styles. It was about exploring traditional aspects and modern impulses, searching for a Catalan identity and further developing iconic achievements of Spanish culture.
The exhibition Barcelona moderna. From Gaudí to Picasso is the first in Germany to focus on this unique cultural environment by highlighting the city's artistic developments between 1880 and 1914. Around 140 paintings, prints, objects, furniture and architectural models showcase the stylistic diversity of this era and place it in Barcelona's social and historical context. In addition to well-known protagonists such as Antoni Gaudí and the young Pablo Picasso, the exhibition offers the opportunity to rediscover numerous outstanding artists who are little known in this country. These include the architects Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch, as well as the painters Hermen Anglada Camarasa, Ramon Casas, Joaquim Mir, Isidre Nonell and Santiago Rusiñol.
The exhibition project is a collaboration between the Kunsthalle München and the Museum Barberini in Potsdam.

Last edited on 08.04.2026