24 hours of Art: Discover Barcelona through its art

Home to Miró, Picasso, Tàpies and Plensa as well as Sixe Paredes. Barcelona is well established on the art scene with a strong sense of creative freedom.

A colorful mural-covered wall illustrating various people and architectural structures

9am: You don’t have to go far from Nobu for your first dose of culture. The walls around La Model former prison are covered by murals painted by a range of artists including Paula Bonet, Matu, Ampparito, and ByG around themes of feminism, prison reform and the housing crisis. Heading towards Plaça Espanya,at the end of the Creu Coberta street, El Pez and his signature piranha style murals sit alongside Uriginals portrait of Barcelona born singer Rosalía. The street art theme continues at the Jardines de les 3 Xemeneies on Paral·lel Avenue, an urban graffiti park with 5 free walls that are painted over each week.

Autor: Martí Petit

A large building featuring a prominent dome atop its structure

10:30am: From Paral·lel, head up to Montjuïc and Barcelona’s Museums quarter where you can visit the Fundació Joan Miró, see contemporary art at Caixa Forum and take a journey through the ages from Romanesque frescos to the modernism and neo realism of Rusiñol, Picasso and Miserachs at the MNAC.

1pm: Lunch at Els Quatre Gats not only means traditional fare in a Modernist setting, it was the preferred hang out of bohemian artists at the turn of the 20th century and also the setting for Picasso’s first solo exhibition.

2:30pm: Peruse the best of twentieth century art at the Barcelona outpost of Marlborough Galleries then head to the Fundació Tàpies for the avant-garde, abstract works of Barcelona born Antoni Tàpies as well as contemporary exhibitions of film, painting and sculpture.

4:30pm: Get up to speed on the Catalan art scene at independent galleries Galeria Senda, and Galeria RocioSantaCruz, who both support young, emerging artists, as well as street artists such as Sixe Paredes, before finishing your day in Museu Can Framis in Poblenou, a former factory now home to over 300 paintings from international artists from the 1960’s to the present day.