Barcelona’s renowned neoclassical palace, the Palau Martorell, opens to the public with the Sorolla exhibition: an exhibition of small-format oil paintings by the Valencian artist.
In the Plaça de la Mercè, one of the most peaceful corners of the Gothic Quarter, the Palau Martorell opens as a cultural facility.
From now on, this neoclassical building on Carrer Ample will reopen its doors as a space where exhibitions of international collections will be regularly displayed.
This palace has a surface area of more than 1,600 m² and was the headquarters of the Antigua Sociedad del Crédito Mercantil.
Today, cultural managers Jesús Rodríguez and José Félix Bentz have succeeded in creating a new multipurpose space dedicated to art.
Its objective is to complement the cultural offer that already exists in the city, through exhibitions dedicated to great masters such as Basquiat, Chagall, Tamara de Lempicka or Calder.
Likewise, this new cultural venue will offer attendees family activities, conference programs and a line dedicated to the projection of contemporary artists.
Sorolla’s exhibition to inaugurate the Palau Martorell’s exhibition hall
The exhibition of Joaquín Sorolla presents to the public 193 small-format oil paintings from the collection of the Sorolla Museum.
“Sorolla. Hunting impressions”, is a unique exhibition that has never been seen before in Barcelona and will be open until March 5, 2023.
The exhibition aims for visitors to discover the oil paintings that the Valencian artist painted on small tablets or cardboards. He called them “annotations”, “color notes” or “stains”.
At first, the art pieces were considered unfinished sketches by the painter. But in the end, they established themselves as incomparable, intimate and personal works of art.
The exhibition is part of the Sorolla Centennial celebration during the year 2023. It is curated by Blanca Pons-Sorolla, an expert on the artist’s work and his great-granddaughter, and María López of the Sorolla Museum.
The Palau Martorell
It is a neoclassical building located in the Gòtic of Barcelona.
Besides being now a space for art, appreciate the interior of the building is something worth visiting to appreciate its neoclassical architecture and for the views it offers of the Basilica de la Virgen de la Mercè.
On the first floor of the palace, a large skylight with a stained glass window supported from two floors above cannot go unnoticed, as well as the Doric columns that adorn the space flooded with natural light.
Towards the main floor of the Palau there is access to a balcony where there is a room with frescoes on the ceiling, surrounded by decorative coffered ceilings.
His works are small in size, but big in boldness. They are a compendium of bursts of the most brilliant Sorolla.
Address of the Palau Martorell: Carrer Ample, 11, 08002
