Famous Art Museums In Barcelona
5+1 BARCELONA ART MUSEUMS YOU SHOULDN’T MISS
Barcelona is art. Art is here represented in many ways: open-air sculptures, monuments, buildings, art galleries, museums… If you are an art lover and art is one of your passions, you need to visit our best Barcelona art museums. It’s a fascinating way to understand our culture through any of the main art disciplines: painting, sculpture, photography… Today we share with your our favorites (you can also hire us to visit one museum only).
These are the top art museums to see in Barcelona:
1
Picasso Museum
2
CaixaForum
It’s far more than a museum but a cultural center with the best temporal exhibitions covering from antique art, modern or contemporary art. It’s located in an old Catalan modernist textile factory designed by the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch and restored by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki.
Not only worth for the exhibitions but for the building itself. The views from the rooftop are also wonderful. And the exhibits are so interesting that it makes our list of top Barcelona art museums. Get your tickets in advance.
3
Miro Foundation
The Joan Miro Foundation (Fundacio Joan Miro) was conceived by Miró himself and his friend Joan Prats in 1968. At that moment, Barcelona was not particularly into contemporary art, and they decided to create a new modern building designed by architect Josep Lluis Sert with the idea of opening one of the first contemporary art museums in Barcelona, to promote young artists.
The collection offers a complete vision of Miró’s life and works, from the very first sketches to some huge paintings, and learning to decipher his symbols it’s a lot of fun! It’s located on the top of Montjuic hill, far from the city center but with a unique views from the rooftop. Skip the line buying your tickets here.
4
MACBA
The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art was built by Richard Meyer in the heart of the Raval district and was called to be the leader of the contemporary art museums in Barcelona. Unfortunately… Barcelona is not New York. Only one floor of this museum is dedicated to their permanent collection, where rather than displaying the most renowned Spanish contemporary artists they prefer to focus on less well known young artists that are often difficult to relate to.
The other two floors are used for temporary exhibits, what means your visit experience will strongly rely on what’s on at the moment. But again, they aren’t often big hits and they tend to focus in the kind of contemporary art that praises ugliness and suffering for the sake of “social conscientiousness”, rather than inspiring art seeking beauty.
This is why I often leave this museum feeling worst than when I entered it… 🙁 For contemporary art museums in Barcelona, we recommend instead the Fundació Tàpies and the Fran Daurel Museum in the Spanish Village. Or to go visiting the great art galleries of Barcelona.
5
Can Framis – Fundació Vilacasas
Can Framis was also a factory in the 1800s. After years of inactivity, the Fundació Vilacasas decided to refurbish the old building and turn it into a new Contemporary Art Museum. There’s a space for temporary exhibits, but unlike the European Museum of Modern Art in the Born district, there’s a permanent collection of 300 Catalan artists’ works from the 60’s to nowadays.
AND BONUS: Where can you see 1000 years of local art in Barcelona?
6
MNAC
The National Museum Art of Catalunya is the largest museum in the city. It’s situated on the top of Montjuïc Hill, in the Palau Nacional built for the 1929 World Fair. There are 4 main sections: Romanesque, Gothic, XVII to XIX century and first half of XX century.
Since there are no shortcuts from one masterpiece to the other, you must go through the whole section once you enter one of them: so plan at least a full morning or afternoon to visit it! (no less than 4 hours for the whole collection). Get your online tickets here.
Any other Barcelona art museums you’d like to recommend?
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
MORE BARCELONA TIPS FOR YOU:
SHARE WITH YOUR TRAVEL MATES
RESEARCHING FOR A TRIP IS TIME-CONSUMING…
Need more inspiration?
Our 100% FREE Barcelona Collection will give you everything you need to organize the trip of your lifetime to Barcelona.
BEST INSIDER TIPS FROM THE PROS!
