The Palau Güell revisits its origins and reclaims itself as an artistic patron

In the Raval neighborhood hides one of Modernism's most emblematic architectural gems. The Palau Güell is considered Gaudí's first great work, and the first commission from the family that would consecrate the artist. The building reclaims its past and now presents the exhibition Works from the Fundació Güell collection. Our commitment is to the sprout, a show where the building asserts itself as an artistic patron, beyond its commitment to the incipient Antoni Gaudí. For the first time, the building exhibits, until October, a selection of works from the contemporary art collection of the Fundació Güell, which every year, since the 1980s, awards the Visual Arts Grant for young creators.

About thirty works ---including sculptures, paintings, and video art--- are the protagonists of this exhibition that highlights the Güell family's commitment to artistic innovation and young creators, not only at the time of the building's creation by backing a young Gaudí but also currently with these grants to promote emerging creators. "The exhibition recovers the foundational spirit of the Palau, a space where, from its beginnings, classical elements and modernity converged," said the director of the Palau Güell, Guillem Mundet. Past and future, classical elements and new languages, tradition and experimentation. Concepts, at first glance antagonistic, but which combine in this exhibition, which invites visitors to a journey through the different plastic languages and themes addressed by the winners of the Fundació Güell grants.

The foundation was created in 1957 by Joan Antoni Güell i López, son of the businessman Eusebi Güell, who commissioned Antoni Gaudí to build the Palau. The purpose of the foundation was to preserve and continue the patronage work that his father had started as Gaudí's protector, to promote emerging Catalan artists. Since 1979, the foundation annually awards grants to young creators ---up to 30 years old--- from Catalan-speaking territories (Catalunya, València, Balearic Islands, and Andorra) for research and production in visual arts and music and, since 2023, also in architecture.

The result of these grants, which have an economic endowment of up to 4,000 euros and in which up to a hundred emerging artists participate each year, is the exhibition that is now located in the attic of the Palau. "The exhibition reaffirms the commitment of the Palau Güell to the roots of artistic creation, helping to promote the beginnings of the most emerging local artists so that they can later develop their careers," considers Vera Renau, art history specialist and curator of the exhibition.

More than a hundred artists have won the foundation's grants since its creation, and through them artistic careers such as that of sculptor Jaime de Córdoba or the multifaceted Hac Vinent have been promoted. Since 2014, each year the grant winners have the opportunity to exhibit in such an emblematic space as the Palau Güell, but until now the building had not presented a retrospective collection like this, which reviews not only the history of its award winners but also the history of the most recent contemporary art. The collection, divided into stages and languages, begins with sculpture from the 80s to end with the most experimental and contemporary video art, without forgetting the figurative painting of the 90s.

In turn, the changes that mark the collection also highlight the different styles that have marked current art. From the most traditional figuration, pop painting or the audiovisual innovation of recent years, the tour ends with the latest awarded creators, such as Mar Reykjavik or Judit Bou. Works that, in addition, are also a reflection of a society and its concerns: motherhood, gentrification or dissident identities are underlying themes that connect artists from different generations. All in all, the exhibition aims, in the words of the director of the Palau Güell, to "make known the uniqueness of the collection and reposition it", with the intention that the exhibition can become itinerant and visit other spaces in the city starting in October.