University & College Art & Design Trips To Barcelona

The museum has the most complete collection of works by Picasso – with more than 3,500 paintings, drawings, engravings and ceramics. Picasso moved to Barcelona in his teens, and the museum reveals his relationship with the city. Look out for the important works The First Communion and Science and Charity.

The MNAC embraces all the arts, from sculpture to painting, objets d’art, drawing, engraving, posters, photography and coinage. It has the task of explaining the general history of Catalan art from the Romanesque period to the mid-twentieth century. The museum is housed in the Palau Nacional, a huge, Italian-style building dating back to 1929.

© Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons

This ultramodern glass-fronted building set beside the city’s gothic centre was designed by Richard Meier and opened in 1995. The permanent collection, which dates from the mid-20th century onwards, focuses on Catalan and Spanish art, although some international artists are also represented. A visit here is a thought-provoking and stimulating excursion for students.

Established in 1975, this foundation owns some of the most representative works by the Catalan artist as well as many by other contemporary artists. It contains more than 10,000 pieces including paintings, sculptures, sketches and tapestries. Designed by Josep Lluís Sert, the building has an open-plan structure inspired by traditional Mediterranean styles.

CaixaForum Barcelona is an art gallery and museum sponsored by the Barcelona bank, La Caixa, and opened in 2002 in a former textile factory in the Montjuic area. CaixaForum hosts exhibitions, contemporary arts, music, conferences and family activities. It has almost three acres of exhibition space, a media library, auditorium, classrooms and a restaurant.

Casa Mila or ‘La Pedrera’ (The Quarry) as it is often called, is Gaudi’s second most popular building in Barcelona. The exterior has no straight lines, and is adorned with winding balconies covered with wrought-iron seaweed-like foliage. One of the most interesting places of the whole complex is the rooftop where you find a large number of surrealistic chimneys.

This museum and cultural centre is dedicated to the life and works of painter, sculptor and art theorist Antoni Tàpies. Born in 1923, he started as a surrealist painter. In 1953 he began working in mixed media, and this is considered his most original contribution to art. The foundation hosts temporary exhibitions, symposia, lectures and film seasons.