Japan showcases Catalan modernist and avant-garde art

Some of the best examples of Catalan modernist and avant-garde art went on display in the Japanese city of Nagasaki on Wednesday, in a new exhibition organized by Catalonia's national art gallery, MNAC.

'Barcelona. The city of artistic miracles. The essence of Catalonian Modern Art from Modernism to the Avant-garde' is the name of the exhibit organized with the Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum and the Kobe Shimbun media group.

In all, some 120 artworks are on display, from the likes of such Catalan masters as Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol, Antoni Gaudí, Puig i Cadafalch and Joaquim Sunyer.

After its stay in Nagasaki, until June 9, the exhibition will go on to visit the Japanese cities of Himeji, Sapporo and Shizuoka, ending in Tokyo at the beginning of 2020.

Some 50 of the works are from MNAC's collection, and include paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, maps and objects made during the artistic boom at the turn of the 20th century.

Other Catalan institutions to lend artworks for the exhibition include the Montserrat Museum and the Museum of the Performing Arts. The exhibit is curated by professor of history and culture, Akira Kinoshita.

The works show Barcelona's transformation after the International Expo of 1888, the influence of Paris and the importance of 'Els 4 Gats' café, as well as covering the noucentist movement, the eruption of the avant-garde, and the effect of the Civil War on art.