Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

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The Palau Nacional which houses the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

The National Art Museum of Catalonia (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya - MNAC) in Barcelona, Spain, is a museum of Catalan visual art. It is housed on the Palau Nacional, built for the 1929 World's Fair. Situated on the Montjuïc hill, it was rehabilitated by the 1992 Summer Olympics.

The museum was created in 1990, when the Catalonian Museum Law reunited the collections of the former Museu d'Art de Catalunya (Catalonian Art Museum; Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque art) and the Museu d'Art Modern (Modern Art Museum; 19th and 20th century art), adding also the Gabinet de Dibuixos i Gravats (Department of Drawings and Prints), the Gabinet Numismàtic de Catalunya (Catalonia Department of Numismatics; coinage and medals) and the Biblioteca d'Història de l'Art (Art History Library). On 1996, the Department of Photography was created.

The museum opened in 1995, with the Romanesque art section. The Gothic art section was opened on 1997, while the Renaissance, Baroque, 19th century and 20th century collections opened on 2000. The official opening, with the building completely rehabilitated and all the collections in place, was in 2004, with the presence of the King and Queen of Spain.

The original Museu d'Art de Catalunya was opened on 1934 on the same location as today, but was closed during the Spanish Civil War. It was reopened from 1940 to 1942. On 1945, the Modern Art Museum opened in the Arsenal of the Ciutadella park.

Font Mágica, the fountains in front of the Museum, built and restored at the same time as the Palau Nacional. The fountain show, which is synchronized to clasical music, is held during summer evenings, lasting about 15 minutes and held every half-hour.

[edit] Sections

Romanesque art: It contains mostly Catalan art from the 11th-13th centuries, but also some from before. The most outstanding part of this collection are the wall-paintings of Romanesque churches and chapels around Catalonia that have been transferred to the museum.
Gothic art: It contains mostly Catalan art from the 13th-15th centuries. It also contains some Italian art.
Rennaisance and Baroque art: It contains Spanish, Italian and Flemish art from the 16th-18th centuries. The collection was started with the local art and augmented mostly through donations, specially that of the Francesc Cambó collection.
Modern art: It reunites Catalan art from the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, including photography and the decorative arts. Outstanding are the works of Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol, Isidre Nonell, Pau Gargallo and the modernist decorative arts of Antoni Gaudí.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: A collection of works deposited by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. It includes pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque. It also includes a collection of Catalan art belonging to the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, from the mid-19th century to the second half of the 20th century.
Department of Drawings and Prints: collection of drawings, prints and posters from the last 17th century to the historical avant-gardes.
Photography collection: photographs from the XIX century to mid-1990s.
Numismatics collection: Coins, medals and paper money from VI BC to the present day. Outstanding is the collection of pieces from Catalonia and the neighbouring territories.