Barcelona

So for my final big trip for my art class with my professor we went to Barcelona. Which as you've probably heard, is super cool. In terms of art, this city is especially important for one big reason: Antoni Gaudí. Here's the schpele  on Guadí- he was one of the most important artists of the early modernist movement because here was a guy who's work totally embodied this notion of art for art's sake. Before Gaudí, architecture always had a very functional purpose. Sure, you have examples throughout history that have elaborate additions and such in the name of provoking meaning or what have you, but before Gaudí no one in architecture was seriously pushing the idea of constructing something simply for the sake of making something look good. His designs are unnecessary, impractical, and oftentimes contradictory, and yet in that way- he separated himself from every other architect before him and helped kick start a mentality whose repercussions are still felt today. I could continue spouting off about this but the photos will make it make more sense.

So the first stop was the park that he built. (The other thing to note about Guadí was his persistent love for nature and natural forms. In this way a park plays right into this idea.) Throughout this park there are lots of colonnades that at first glance look like these old ruins. That is of course until you actually look at them. These columns and hallways are constructed of tons of large rocks that all look like at any time they are going to fall and crush you.

Colonnade in the park

Are they about to fall?

The most well known part of the park is a large balcony area with a really spectacular view of the city that is right next to two buildings that Gaudí built that look quite a bit like gingerbread houses. The really cool thing about this balcony though is that when you go down below (where the really famous lizard fountain is) you'll see all these tons of tilting columns. which are really neat, but in true Gaudí fashion- serve absolutely no function whatsoever- if they weren't there the balcony would still be standing just fine- the only purpose they serve is to make the area look neat.

gingerbread houses

they look pretty upright but in reality these columns all have quite the lean going on

Then it was off to the Sagrada Familia, Guadí's unfinished masterpiece. One side was completed early on in his lifetime, while he was still working in his neo-gothic style, but the truly amazing part is the other side that was finished in full on Gaudí style which depicts the sacred family. Because rules and traditions seemed to be a secondary concern for Gaudí various things throughout the façade hint at his gothic roots but then reject those rules. My favorite of these things being that he created an impressive gothic style rose window in front that is massive and impressive...and then proceeded to cover it up with one of his tree-like spires.

This was Gaudí's first, neo-gothic side- notice that even early in his career he loved nature- instead of gargoyles he put serpents around the top of the building

The amazing sagrada familia side

Here's the rose window I was talking about- you can barely see it because of the spire in front of it

The following day we headed to the palacio (which in reality was never used as a palace, but was created for the world expo at the beginning of the 20th century). This palace is now used to house the National Museum of Catalunya- which is a very impressive art museum simply with it's massive permanent collection. What was really special for me though was that there was an amazing temporary exhibit that compared realism in Catalunya to Realism in France, and specifically the work of Gustave Courbet. Along with various impressive pieces by Courbet they had his SUPER important self portrait (you know, the one where he's pulling his hair back and has his eyes bulging). Needless to say- for the umpteenth time I freaked out at an art museum in Spain.

The palacio- with barcelona's little shout out to the columns at Mizzou

 We then saw the stadium from the barcelona olympics in 1992, followed by the cathedral- which was a neat, primarily gothic building that started out as a small little roman church. Then we closed out the weekend with a trip to the Picasso museum which had his early painting of his sister's communion and his series of interpretations of Las Meninas.

Joan Miró did this line of dancers that's across from the cathedral

Inside the cathedral- it was in a fire a while back and is still undergoing a lot of repairs

The small little roman beginning of the cathedral

This little bar was where Picasso used to hang out- he once traded a drawing for a meal there. And it's really close to la calle avignon- which used to be the street where prostitutes hung out- and if you thought the women of Avignon (the super famous painting by Picasso) was about the women in Avignon in France, I hate to break it to ya, but it wasn't quite that poetic...haha

This is Armando's (my professor's) favorite church in Barcelona. It was built by a guild of fisherman

So once I returned to Alicante I was waiting for the tram to take me out to San Juan where I live and a small english boy, who didn't realize I spoke english, was watching me sketch (a favorite past time of mine here). When his mom told him to stop being nosy he told her that I was making a "lovely" drawing, which kind of was the icing on the cake for this weekend. Not typically one to post photos of my work online but seeing as how it was one of the best compliments I've received for a piece I decided to post it here.