The MNAC takes the street

The Museum of National Art of Catalunya (MNAC) has turned the streets of Barcelona into a giant outdoor art gallery. From now until the 30th of November you can see exact digital replicas of 33 of great works from the great museum´s permanent collection.
Strolling down the Avenida Diagonal, the Rambla de Catalunya, the Paseo de Gracia, or right across the Ramblas in the Gothic Quarter you can search the walls and nooks and crannies of Barcelona for reproductions of iconic works of Toulouse-Lautrec, Dali, Velazquez, and Picasso and the list goes on and on. It all gives you the feeling of strolling through a large open-air museum.
Our personal favorites here at the hotel are “The tandem bicycle” and “the car”, two emblematic paintings by the great Catalan modernist painter, Ramon Casas. They used to adorn the walls of Els Quatre Gats, one of Picasso's old haunts, and are found near the historic bar-restaurant and very close to the hotel.
The MNAC is in the mood for celebrating; its 75th birthday is the perfect excuse for something really big, like entering into an artistic “dialog with the city.” Providing the technology is HP Latex which developed the cutting-edge printing innovations in nearby San Cugat. Their high-resolution graphics for outdoor display puts them in the vanguard of green technology. It is one of their innovations to reduce our carbon footprint. They've done similar shows in New York and London and now it´s Barcelona's turn.
So come to Barcelona, download the map and check out this innovative exhibit which takes great art right to the streets.
For more info check out here.

MACBA Museum... better at night

If you are the kind of person who likes to enjoy the sun as much as possible, why not to let the culture activities for the night? During the summer, the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) will remain open until midnight all the thursday and fridays (till September 23th).

The MACBA's nocturnal summer program includes its regular guided tours (in spanish and catalan) as well as a series of special activities related to the Dorothee and Konrad Fischer and Benet Rossell exhibitions.

Besides the temporary exhibitions, you will enjoy of the MACBA's permanent collection, which starts in roughly 1950. It consists of many works from Catalan, Spanish and International artists. Though not an anthology, it is a thorough overview of the fundamental aspects of Contemporary Art which hopes to promote both exercises and education in critical memory. The admission costs 5 Euros.

For a special dinner, the bar located on the Museum's First Floor terrace will remain open on Museum hours. Catering is provided by Azulius Temporary Bar and the space was designed by hop! design. Bookings can be made by telephone (+34 667 643 963) or email temporary@azulius.com.

Shots from the civil war: Robert Capa & Gerda Taro

From July 7 to September 27 the MNAC (Museu Nacional d´Art de Catalunya) will present the exhibition "Això es la guerra!" (This is war!), with the simultaneous shows by Robert Capa, “the greatest war photographer in the world”, and his brilliant, vivacious girlfriend Gerda Taro, another pioneer in photojournalism.

Robert Capa is the gold standard for all photojournalists. His most famous image “Death of a Militiaman”,“the greatest of all war photographs”, shows an anti-Franco militiaman collapsing into death after being shot in the heart. This and about 200 other war photographs from World War II, the first Israeli-Arab War, and the Indochinese War form “This is War! Robert Capa in Action” an exposition which will finally will reach Barcelona after touring New York, London, and Milan.

A simultaneous exhibition by Gerda Taro assembles 83 of her photographs along with other documentary material. Her extraordinary sensibility and ability to capture the intimate and immediate during the horrifying depersonalization of war was cut tragically cut short when she was mortally injured during the Battle of Brunette in 1937.

This is your chance to view their extraordinary body of work. You can feel their passionate commitment, their willingness to share the hardships of the people they were photographing and their extraordinary ability to keep their ideals without losing respect for individuals.