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Fundacio Joan Miro is Barcelona’s Best. Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain

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Sometimes in the course of traveling, a site or attraction unexpectedly blows my expectations out of the water. Such was the case with the Fundacio Joan Miro, a shrine to an artist I’d heard very little about before my trip to Barcelona. We visited this museum almost as an afterthought. In the end, the Fundacio completely knocked my socks off and ended up being one of the highlights of our entire European vacation.

Know Before You Go
For those who don’t know, Joan Miro was a Surrealist artist whose career spanned much of the 20th Century. Now dead for twenty-plus years, he remains Barcelona’s favorite son, having been both born and buried there. The Fundacio was opened toward the end of Miro’s lifetime and features his work almost exclusively with the exception of a few special pieces by other artists along with a couple of rotating temporary exhibits.

Fundacio Joan Miro is located in the southwest corner of Barcelona. It is very easily accessible via either taxi, public bus, or the official Bus Turistico. Good views of the city can be had from the elevated Fundacio, and it is within a short trek of other popular attractions such as the National Palace and Olympic stadium. The facility has fairly generous hours, opening at 10:00 a.m. daily and remaining open as late as 10:00 p.m. on select nights during the tourism season. Expect to pay 8 Euros unless you are eligible for a student or senior discount.

Collection Highlights
Most of Joan Miro’s work is big, bright, and colorful, making this a fun museum for everyone from art aficionados to art novices to families. The building is modern and airy and the galleries flow neatly into each other, making it easy to see the entire facility in a logical sequence.

While there are many fabulous works here, the showstopper of the collection is “Tapis de la Fundacio”, a massive, multi-textured wool work which dominates an entire wall of the Fundacio’s largest gallery. The title of this piece translates to ‘Tapestry of the Foundation”, and most visitors will agree that it is an appropriate “mascot” of sorts for the museum as it incorporates the best elements of Miro’s style. Almost equally eye-catching, though, is the intriguingly named “Man and Woman in Front of a Pile of Excrement”. No matter how closely I looked I simply couldn’t pick out the excrement, but the painting is colorfully compelling nonetheless. While Miro’s paintings are generally heavy on abstract shapes and bright colors, not all are completely abstract. In the more realistic category I particularly liked the painting “Chapel of Sant Joan d’Horta.” This painting actually looked like a chapel, albeit a slightly wavy one. The colors remind me of an especially beautiful sunrise.

For those tired of two-dimensional artwork, the Fundacio Joan Miro offers plenty of sculpture to break up the monotony of staring at walls. Most unique is probably Alexander Calder’s “Mercury Fountain”, safely on display behind walls of glass. There’s actually something kind of exciting about viewing toxic artwork. For more conventional sculpture, visitors can step out onto the terrace and enjoy five or six sculptures displayed against the beautiful backdrop of downtown Barcelona. “The Caress of a Bird’ is probably the most notable - it manages to simultaneously look totally geometric and strikingly birdlike. Since flash photography is not allowed in the galleries, the sculpture terrace is the best plays to take pictures at the Fundacio.

Dining and Shopping
Fundacio Joan Miro has a fun gift store of the type one would expect to see at an art museum. We saw tons of interesting home decor items and artwork available for purchase. There is also a library/bookstore that sells art books and prints of the museum’s most popular paintings.

If you need a snack, there is a restaurant and bar with indoor/outdoor seating. It sells both casual sandwich fare and more elaborate cuisine. We enjoyed sodas in the outdoor courtyard as a much needed respite from our busy day of touring.

Overall…
I went from knowing virtually nothing about Joan Miro to being his biggest fan all in the same day. We had a much better time at this museum than at its more famous Picasso counterpart thanks to the well-designed facility and dramatic, high impact pieces on display throughout. The museum is large and rich enough to spend hours at without being so huge as to be overwhelming. Overall, I totally loved this place. If you only make it to one art museum during your time in Barcelona, make sure it’s Joan Miro’s.

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Tags: , Barcelona, Destinations, Fundacio Joan Miro, Hotels & Travel, Spain