Barcelona: art and city

Barcelona's La Sagrada Familia may be unfinished, but it's impressive nonetheless. / Courtesy of Rachel Sang-hee Han

By Rachel Sang-hee Han

Stuttgart, GERMANY— Nowadays, art is a popular and effective factor when promoting travel. This nifty subject offers endless possibilities, including museums, architecture, events and history. Barcelona is one of those cities that depended quite heavily on its artists and their workswhile some artists were inspired by the city itself.

It's hard to travel around Barcelona without bumping into Antoni Gaudi's s works. And because the architect was so busy creating his masterpieces on this lovely canvas of a city, visitors can experience his work in various forms, including a cathedral, park, museum and buildings.

It was actually inevitable for Barcelona to depend on such talented architects and artists during the 19th century. When Gaudi graduated as an architect in 1878, Barcelona was going through an explosion of growth, which led to industrial revolution and furthermore, new urban planning. Such historical events took place when Gaudi was high on demand, and the city took shape along with his artistic and architectural growth.

The Catalan architect is known for taking his time when working on his masterpieces, hence the ongoing construction of La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell that took 14 years to built.

Witnessing the construction of La Sagrada Familia is an interesting experience. It's like watching a fossil being uncovered. It started going up in 1882 and it will take another 12 years to complete it. It does feel like you are in the middle of a small part of history being built, literally.

Since construction is underway and the interior is a bit busy and limited, it doesn't feel like a cathedral just yet. Many famous cathedrals have that rather solemn and quiet atmosphere, but La Sagrada Familia seems more like a museum. And, in fact, it is. It's a museum of the past, present and even future of the cathedral itself. And to be honest, I personally wouldn't mind if they took their time to perfect it just as Gaudi would have wanted it to be.

If Gaudi managed to artistically shape Barcelona, there was one man who was very much influenced by the city and grew as an artist through such inspirations: Pablo Picasso. The Spanish artist spent most of his adult years in France, but his earlier years were defined by the then very dynamic city of Barcelona.

The Picasso Museum in Barcelona offers the life and works of Picasso's early years. It was, in fact, set up following the artist's personal wish.

For those who were expecting his more famous works may be a bit disappointed as his early works are quite different. The permanent collection includes not only his paintings and drawings but also engravings and ceramics that range from 1890 to 1917 as well.

For a person like me who is more used to his paintings following his cubism movement, the museum can be a breath of fresh air. I was not aware Picasso also had a vast collection of ceramics, while some paintings that were heavily based on realism did not remind me of the painter at all.

But the museum helps visitors connect Picasso with the city, by showing historical records or him talking about the one place he believed was his true home, visual guides where he enjoyed visiting and also where he would go to get inspiration.
Picasso may have left Barcelona for Paris in 1905, but his stylistic evolutions began way before his soaring popularity. And, like the architectural marvel that helped shape the city, the famous painter grew within the walls of none other than Barcelona.

Rachel Sang-hee Han is a former staff reporter at The Korea Times and former editor at CNN Travel. She lives in Germany and runs a travel blog at rachelsanghee.com

Top attractions

"Las Meninas" from the Picasso Museum

Park Guell

As one of the largest architectural works in southern Europe, it was originally built and designed by Gaudi as a private estate for rich families on a large property owned by Catalan entrepreneur Eusebi Guell. The plans didn't fall through and the heirs of Guell offered the area to the Barcelona City Council after his death. It was transformed into a park in 1926.

La Sagrada Familia

One of the most famous Roman Catholic churches in the world, it is still incomplete yet is open for visitors. The delay in construction was due to the fact that it's heavily relied on private donations and also because of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

Casa Mila or La Pedrera

A modernist building that was one of Gaudí's last works before he devoted himself to La Sagrada Familia. Visitors can take a tour around, inside and on top of the building. Due to its shape and design, the building was considered a joke during its time but is now one of the most impressive works of Gaudi and also in Barcelona.

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