' Barcelona 1947-2007 ' Hosted by the Maeght Foundation

Monday, 28 May 2007 22:24

Saint-Paul, France - The great exhibition of summer 2007 celebrates Barcelona and the extraordinary vitality of this world-famous art centre. The aim is to follow the artistic history of the city since the end of the 1940s – in 1947, Miró showed his works for the first time at the Maeght Gallery in Paris and in 1948, the Dau el set movement established a new relationship between Catalan art and the historical vanguards to the present day. 47 artists and 150 works gathered in the unique setting of the Marguerite et Aimé Maeght Foundation bare witness to the strength and autonomy of artistic creation in the birthplace of Catalan culture. On exhibition July 7th – November 4th 2007.

Barcelona is definitively established as an artistic capital in Europe. The town has completely metamorphosed over the last twenty years; this is the visible side of the rapid evolution whose only equivalent is the profusion of artistic offers in the workshops. This exhibition is a real-life stroll through sixty years of artistic history and it fits in with the Maeght Gallery’s fondness of Catalan artists since the earliest years of its existence up to the present day, with the opening of a Maeght Galley in Barcelona in 1974.

The Metropolitan Museum in New York has just held an exhibition covering Barcelona from Gaudi to Dali. The Marguerite and Aimé Maeght Foundation continues the story of this artistic adventure, covering the early 20th century and today’s art. From the Masters, Miró and Tàpies, via Barceló, Broto, Susana Solano or Plensa, Fontcuberta, Perejaume or Hannah Collins, as far as the youthful generation represented by Jaime Pitarch or Victor Pimstein, brought alive by the conceptual intentions of several artists including the « Working Group », the whole history is represented against the background of conquest and the affirmation of democracy.

The Maeght Foundation: a unique site dedicated to art

The Marguerite and Aimé Maeght Foundation is a unique example of a private European Foundation. Inaugurated on July 28th 1964 by André Malraux, then Minister of Cultural Affairs, this architectural ensemble was entirely conceived and financed by Aimé and Marguerite Maeght to present modern and contemporary art in all its forms. Painters and sculptors collaborated closely in the realisation of this Foundation with Catalan architect Lluis Sert by creating frequently monumental works integrated into the building and gardens: the Giacometti courtyard, the Miró labyrinth filled with sculptures and ceramics, mural mosaics by Chagall and Tal-Coat, a pool and stained glass window by Braque, a Bury fountain...

A true museum in nature, the Maeght Foundation is an exceptional site that contains one of the most important collections in Europe, with paintings, sculptures; drawings and graphic works from the 20th century: Bonnard, Braque, Calder, Chagall, Giacometti, Léger, Miró... More than 200 000 visitors come each year to the Maeght Foundation, which has put on over 100 monographic or thematic exhibitions since its opening. Many exhibitions are also organized every year in museums in France and abroad based on the Foundation’s collections. Writers, poets, philosophers, art historians are invited every year to the Maeght Foundation to give thematic conferences about the exhibitions.

Designated as being of public interest, the Maeght Foundation is autonomous. It is not linked to the National Museum Administration and receives no funding from the State.

Visit : www.fondation-maeght.com/