Painting, sculpture i design 
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Fundació Joan Miró. © Efe
Over the years, many practitioners of the fine arts have been associated with Catalonia and have produced some of their finest works there. The twentieth century especially produced many works and artists of international renown. Picasso (1881-1973) was trained in Catalonia surrounded by the world of Modernisme, with which he was closely linked (Blue period, in Gósol, Cubism in Horta de Sant Joan and Cadaqués), and a magnificent testimony to his work remains in the form of the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.
Joan Miró (1893-1983) achieved world fame through his association with Surrealism in Paris before changing to a less figurative style of painting, with its own universe of signs - woman, star, bird - possessed of an extraordinary force and poetry; he also created ceramics (with Josep Llorens Artigas), sculpture, stage design and tapestries. His relationship with Catalonia is reflected in the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona (1975) designed by his friend the architect Josep Lluís Sert.
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Galatea de les esferes, by Salvadoir Dalí
Another world-famous name is that of Salvador Dalí (1904-1989). A leading member of the Surrealist movement, avant-garde and iconoclastic, with an impeccable technique, he allowed the landscape of the Empordà region to suffuse his work. He founded the Teatre-Museu Dalí (1968) in his native Figueres, in addition to which his house at Portlligat and the castle of Púbol which he restored and gave to his wife and muse Gala are also open to the public.
Another figure who achieved international recognition from the nineteen-fifties onwards is Antoni Tàpies, an informalist painter who has exerted great influence and who has an art foundation in Barcelona that bears his name. Other leading painters include such artists such as Perejaume, also known for his poetry, and Albert Ràfols-Casamada, as well as Miquel Barceló.
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Josep Hugué. © Efe
The collection of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), opened in 1995, is a compendium of contemporary Catalan art from 1959 until the present day.
The building, designed by US architect Richard Meier, is a showcase for the work of present-day artists.
Thus, contemporary Catalan art can be seen at the MACBA, while the collection of the Museu Nacional de Catalunya (MNAC) covers the period from the Romanesque until 1959.
The MNAC surveys such important artistic movements as modernisme and noucentisme, and there are works by major figures such as Joaquim Mir.
Some of the artists whose collections are show at the MACBA are Jordi Colomer, Pep Agut, Mabel Palacin, Pep Duran, Antoni Llena, Antoni Abad, Francesc Abad, Frederic Amat, Joan Brossa, Fina Miralles, Àngels Ribé, Joaquim Llucià, Robert Llimós, Antoni Miralda, Benet Rossell, Francesc Torres, Pere Noguera, Josep Ponsatí and Eulàlia Valldosera.
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Jaume Plensa. © Efe
Design
Modernisme gave a strong impetus to the decorative arts - furniture-makers, ceramicists, wrought-iron workers, frequently on the basis of designs by the architects themselves, as was the case with Gaudí and Domènech i Montaner.
Modern design tendencies have taken root in Catalonia since the nineteen-sixties and Barcelona has become an important centre for industrial design, with institutions such as the Foment de les Arts Decoratives (Promotion of Decorative Arts), which awards the prestigious ADI-FAD prizes, and BCD (Barcelona Centre Disseny), as well as specialised schools (Elisava, Eina, Massana). Outstanding figures in this field include André Ricard, Miquel Milà, J. A. Coderch, Oscar Tusquets and Xavier Mariscal, amongst others.
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