Things to do in Catalonia, Spain: The Best Art Museums

The Episcopal Museum of Vic (MEV), founded in 1891, houses a magnificent collection of medieval art with paintings and sculpture from the Catalan Romanesque and Gothic periods. The collections of precious metals, textiles, wrought ironwork, glass and ceramics offer a comprehensive journey through the history of liturgical and decorative art in Catalonia. This highly prized collection, including over 29,000 pieces, is exhibited in a new building on a site adjoining the cathedral, equipped with state-of-the-art exhibition facilities. Due to the exceptional interest of the museum's collections, in 2001 the museum was declared a museum of national interest by the Government of Catalonia.

Girona Art Museum is located in the incomparable setting of the former Bishop’s Palace, a building first documented in the 10th century. It now houses the most important art collection in Girona province, with pieces dating from Romanesque times to the early 20th century.The building still conserves several spaces that bear witness to its original function, notably the Episcopal gaol and the superb garden, open to the public on several occasions throughout the year.

Cau Ferrat 's Museum is the workshop that the painter Santiago Rusinol built in Sitges by the sea in 1893 to house its paintings, iron, ceramics, furniture and antique glass. The museum preserves intact the space and works of art that the modernist painter collected. His visit is an invitation to immerse ourselves in the spirit of Modernism and his idea of the creation of total art. On their walls they upload works by their fellow generations such as Ramon Casas, Ramon Pichot, Ignacio Zuloaga or Dario de Regoyos, and young emerging artists from that period such as Pablo Picasso, Manolo Hugue and Isidre Nonell.

The Maricel Museum exhibits a complete artistic route from the tenth century to realism and figuration during the first half of the twentieth century, passing through the art collections of Dr. Jesus Perez Rosales and the Collection of Sitges, with works of great quality. The museum exhibition integrates multiple languages, techniques and artistic media in order to achieve a maximum consistency in the chronological sequence of the development of the arts. The museum included works from the collection of Dr. Jesus Perez-Rosales that never had been exhibited in public, acquisitions by the Sitges Heritage Association since 2012 (Ramon Casas, Miquel Utrillo, Arcadi Mas i Fondevila, Artur Carbonell i Augusti Ferrer Pino) ​​and donations from artist’s relatives (Pere Jou and Alfred Sisquella).

Instituted in 1974, this museum was built on the remains of the former Figueres Theater, and features a broad range of works of Salvador Dalí (1904-1989.)

Built in the 1930s, this was the summer home of the famous artist Salvador Dalí.

Medeival castle painter Dali presented to his wife, Gala, is now a museum. Closed 1 January to 14 March

The Museum of Modern Art was founded by the Provincial Council of Tarragona in 1976 to promote the study and knowledge of modern and contemporary art and, likewise, to preserve, display and share its artistic heritage. To this end, a museum was set up in the old quarter of Tarragona with a library, a documentation centre and a photographic archive. The building that houses the museum is the result of joining three 18th-century houses. It was renovated by the architect Jaume Mutllo and the building as we know it today, fully equipped and restored, was opened to the public in 1991. In 2008 the Museum of Modern Art shall be updating its permanent display with a new museological project that will add a whole new didactic dimension to the presentation of the collections. To bring art closer to children and young people, the Pedagogical Service of the Museum of Modern Art provides guided tours for school parties (minimum age three years old) by appointment. The Pedagogical Service extends the range of its services every year in an attempt to involve the teaching community in transmitting knowledge about modern and contemporary art.