The Catalan art is the artistic production made in what is now

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

along the time. It has a parallel evolution to the rest of

European art The art of Europe, or Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period between the Paleo ...

, following in a diverse way the multiple tendencies that have taken place in the context of the history of Western art. Throughout history, Catalonia has seen diverse cultures and civilizations that contributed their concept of art and have left their legacy. Each historical period has specific and definable characteristics, common to other lands and cultures, or unique and differentiated, which evolved over time. Catalan art is the result of the diverse social and cultural amalgam brought about by the diverse peoples that inhabited its territory: the first prehistoric settlers were succeeded by various peoples, such as

Iberians The Iberians ( la, Hibērī, from el, Ἴβηρες, ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (amo ...

who arrived during the Bronze and Iron Ages; these later convisquered with the first colonizers from the Mediterranean civilizations, the Greeks; then the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

arrived, who disseminated their art and architecture throughout the territory. After its fall, Catalonia was part of the

Visigothic kingdom The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to ...

, and later it received the Islamic occupation, which architecture is today visible in places of the half south of the territory. The

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

will be the beginning of Catalan culture as a defined entity, with its own language, descent of Latin, and the formation of the Principality of Catalonia. It was a time of splendor for Catalan art, and the Romanesque and the Gothic will be very fruitful periods for the artistic development of the Principality. During the early modern age, with the vinculation to the Monarchy of Spain and the succession of various economic crises, Catalan art declined, and Renaissance and Baroque styles were not particularly noteworthy in the history of Catalan art. Since the nineteenth century, with the economic and cultural revitalization, the art flourished again; and

Modernisme ''Modernisme'' (, Catalan for "modernism"), also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan cultu ...

(related to European Art Nouveau) became one of the most splendid periods of Catalan art, given to the world many important figures such as Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Muntaner or Ramon Casas, among others. The twentieth century brought the updating of the different styles produced by Catalan artists, which connect with international trends, offering even leading figures worldwide such as

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

, Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies,

Albert Ràfols-Casamada Albert Ràfols-Casamada (2 February 1923 – 17 December 2009) was a Spanish painter, poet and art teacher involved in the vanguard movements of his time. He is considered one of the most important, multifaceted Catalan artists of his time. ...

, Joaquim Chancho and Yago Hortal.

Bibliography

* AA.VV. ''Història de l'art català.'' Edicions 62 (Barcelona, 2005) * Alonso Tejada, Anna and Grimal Navarro, Alexandre. ''L'Art Rupestre del Cogul. Primeres imatges humanes a Catalunya.'' Pagès Editors (Lleida, 2007) * {{Catalonia topics

See also

Bibliography