BARCELONA 1900

The subject of this catalog, edited by Sala (modern & contemporary art, Univ. of Barcelona) and accompanying an exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, is turn-of-the-20th-century Barcelona and its great architectural, cultural, political, and societal changes. Coverage includes the works of dominant artists and architects (e.g., Antoni Gaudí''s Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família), notable landmarks (e.g., Els Quartes Gats, the café once frequented by Pablo Picasso and his bohemian circle of friends), and influences that include fin de siècle Paris, impressionism, and Norwegian artist Edvard Munch within the dynamics of the times. Art historian contributors capture the major highlights of this Catalan city''s modernist transformation in eight brief and beautifully illustrated essays. An anthology of poems and prose follows the essays and provides a sampling of Barcelona''s literary character. Readers are allowed a glimpse into the lives of the upper classes through interior photographs of their dwellings, and there are many exquisite full-page, full-color reproductions of decorative displays, architectural photographs, and poster art. An exciting chronicle of Barcelona''s rich modern history for contemporary readers; recommended for all art-book collections.