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Gaudi: Complete Works
Book by Artigas, Isabel
295 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 8, 2019
The arrival of Gaudi constituted an unprecedented phenomenon not only in the history of Catalan art, but also in the rest of the world, which for many decades failed to realize the magnitude of the architect. Gaudi represented the birth of a brilliant artist who from the start effortlessly created a markedly unique and personal style that evolved into one of the most remarkable of his time. Rather than simply taking architecture a step forward, Gaudi took it even further by completely redefining styles and structures. He did not do so, however, out of an ambition to seek originality or display aesthetic subversion, as would the militant avant-garde artists of the 20th century-but out of a genuine and unbridled flow of enormous creativity.
In contrast to Gaudi's originality, his practice was deeply rooted in tradition. He constructed the Sagrada Familia following in the footsteps of the Gothic masters who built their cathedrals, yet he paradoxically tended to speak negatively of Gothic art, a style which is nevertheless clearly reflected in much of his work. What distinguishes Gaudi from many other Catalan Modernistes is their affiliation with international schools of thought and their partiality to Art Nouveau, which permeated fashionable Western art at the time. Gaudi, however, despite showing a certain influence from the British Aesthetic Movement, had no specific foreign model, nor did he harbour any interest in trends. This is most likely related to the fact that Gaudi, a descendent of the romantic Renaixenca movement and a political-cultural advocate of local culture, was an ardent Catalanist, willing to defend his Catalan language in the presence of the king of Spain himself, who represented the centralist power wary o and often hostile towards the non-Castilian Spanish cultures.
In the second half of the 19th century, industrial development in Europe had important social and political consequences. As technology boomed, so did art movements. The last quarter of the 19th century had generated a new artistic and cultural movement in Europe that was given a different name depending on its country of origin: Art Nouveau in France and Belgium; the Modern Style in England and Ireland; Sezession in Austria; Jugendstil in Germany; Liberty in Italy; and Modernismo in Spain, in which Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands was called Modernisme.
Modernisme means "a taste for modern things," which pints to the turn-of-the-century society's willingness to break with the past and embrace the novelties spawned by the Industrial Revolution. At odds with the classical art forms imposed by art academies at the time, the new creators discovered a new artistic vernacular whose spontaneity proved stronger than the imposed norms. The yearning for renewal led to the rejection of industry and technology in the artistic realm, compelling historians, critics and artists to promote the value of handmade products, and thus generating a complete reform of the arts and crafts.
The construction of Casa Calvet paved the way for a new building and decorative style that would be followed by many architects. The use of baroque or rococo elements, as well as undulating coronations or the use of stone on balconies, would be a constant feature in the new buildings in Barcelona's Eixample neighbourhood. Gaudi designed a multi-level building that despite its function as a residence for several families would not lack the luxurious quality of Gothic palaces like those on Montcada Street.
Casa Battlo displays the majority of characteristics of Modernista art, including the prevalence of curved over straight lines, the use of asymmetry, the presence of decorative details, and the depiction of nature through ornamental motifs and structural features.
Casa Mila is situated on a prominent corner of Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona. The magnificent building was conceived as a showcase for art in all its forms, incorporating architecture, painting, woodworking, and wrought iron. The most prominent features of the facade are its asymmetry and its austere colors, the latter in stark contrast to Cast Battlo. Despite being situated on a corner, Gaudi took great pains to create a continuous structure, to the point of concealing the entrance so that no angle of the facade would take precedence over any other.
Sagrada Familia is arguably the most iconic structure in Spain. Seen from the outside, the building stands out for its verticality, a characteristic feature emphasized by the presence of belfries and an octagonal dome that Gaudi designed to reach 150 meters in height. Once inside the church, visitors feel as if they are standing amidst a forest of huge columns inundated with light. In line with his fascination with symbolism, Gaudi also took care to highlight both the structural and decorative elements that bestowed symbolism on the temple. Every column, tower and color represents or symbolizes a certain aspect of the Catholic faith.
The flouring Arts and Crafts movement adapted to the needs and circumstances of different countries, and during the 20th century it gave rise, importantly, to an infrastructure of specialists, artisans, technicians, and artists capable of producing any kind of object. Modernista architects did not think of buildings as consisting solely of the architectural structure, but as a collection of all the decorative elements they comprised.
Nature became the most popular source of inspiration for Modernista ornamentation, taking ideas from plants, animals, and the waves of the ocean. Asymmetric, undulating, and curved lines known as coup de fuet were present in the majority of works regarded as Modernista. This ornamentation always had a symbolic significance. The predominant idea was that of eternal movement, brevity, in relation to two very prominent subjects of Modernisme: beauty and death. Floral and plant decorations signifying the ephemeral or the fertile were frequently used in buildings and objects designed during this period.
Modernista buildings display a painstaking attention to detail. Even the front doors take on an important role as passageway to the inside, which is decorated flowing the outside style with murals, sculptures, lamps, stained glass windows, and custom-built furnishings. The sum of all these decorative elements is a clear sign of how Modernisme was characterized by an integration of all the art forms in a quest for the total work of art.
Although this decorative technique had existed for centuries in Catalonia, the use of mosaics reached its peak during the Modernista movement. Gaudi devised a unique technique called trencadis which consists of filling large surfaces with small, irregular pieces of broken ceramic, marble, glass and tiles, forming an original and strikingly colourful puzzle. Another interesting form taken by this material is the hydraulic mosaic tiling, created through a technique that joins Modernisme with industry. These tiles were formed by small coloured pieces arranged into simple geometric patterns.
Gaudi often employed glass as much to enclose space as for a decorative element. Stained glass is a common feature of Modernista works. They often adopted warm colors and were used as a decorative detail on galleries, windows and doors. Rather than expressing the religious themes found in Gothic restorations, these favour profuse colors rendered in geometric shapes and organic forms, as well as floral or animal motifs with clearly ornamental purposes. Gaudi also used natural light as one of his main architectural resources and often experimented with new craft techniques to obtain a variety of light tones.
In contrast to Gaudi's originality, his practice was deeply rooted in tradition. He constructed the Sagrada Familia following in the footsteps of the Gothic masters who built their cathedrals, yet he paradoxically tended to speak negatively of Gothic art, a style which is nevertheless clearly reflected in much of his work. What distinguishes Gaudi from many other Catalan Modernistes is their affiliation with international schools of thought and their partiality to Art Nouveau, which permeated fashionable Western art at the time. Gaudi, however, despite showing a certain influence from the British Aesthetic Movement, had no specific foreign model, nor did he harbour any interest in trends. This is most likely related to the fact that Gaudi, a descendent of the romantic Renaixenca movement and a political-cultural advocate of local culture, was an ardent Catalanist, willing to defend his Catalan language in the presence of the king of Spain himself, who represented the centralist power wary o and often hostile towards the non-Castilian Spanish cultures.
In the second half of the 19th century, industrial development in Europe had important social and political consequences. As technology boomed, so did art movements. The last quarter of the 19th century had generated a new artistic and cultural movement in Europe that was given a different name depending on its country of origin: Art Nouveau in France and Belgium; the Modern Style in England and Ireland; Sezession in Austria; Jugendstil in Germany; Liberty in Italy; and Modernismo in Spain, in which Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands was called Modernisme.
Modernisme means "a taste for modern things," which pints to the turn-of-the-century society's willingness to break with the past and embrace the novelties spawned by the Industrial Revolution. At odds with the classical art forms imposed by art academies at the time, the new creators discovered a new artistic vernacular whose spontaneity proved stronger than the imposed norms. The yearning for renewal led to the rejection of industry and technology in the artistic realm, compelling historians, critics and artists to promote the value of handmade products, and thus generating a complete reform of the arts and crafts.
The construction of Casa Calvet paved the way for a new building and decorative style that would be followed by many architects. The use of baroque or rococo elements, as well as undulating coronations or the use of stone on balconies, would be a constant feature in the new buildings in Barcelona's Eixample neighbourhood. Gaudi designed a multi-level building that despite its function as a residence for several families would not lack the luxurious quality of Gothic palaces like those on Montcada Street.
Casa Battlo displays the majority of characteristics of Modernista art, including the prevalence of curved over straight lines, the use of asymmetry, the presence of decorative details, and the depiction of nature through ornamental motifs and structural features.
Casa Mila is situated on a prominent corner of Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona. The magnificent building was conceived as a showcase for art in all its forms, incorporating architecture, painting, woodworking, and wrought iron. The most prominent features of the facade are its asymmetry and its austere colors, the latter in stark contrast to Cast Battlo. Despite being situated on a corner, Gaudi took great pains to create a continuous structure, to the point of concealing the entrance so that no angle of the facade would take precedence over any other.
Sagrada Familia is arguably the most iconic structure in Spain. Seen from the outside, the building stands out for its verticality, a characteristic feature emphasized by the presence of belfries and an octagonal dome that Gaudi designed to reach 150 meters in height. Once inside the church, visitors feel as if they are standing amidst a forest of huge columns inundated with light. In line with his fascination with symbolism, Gaudi also took care to highlight both the structural and decorative elements that bestowed symbolism on the temple. Every column, tower and color represents or symbolizes a certain aspect of the Catholic faith.
The flouring Arts and Crafts movement adapted to the needs and circumstances of different countries, and during the 20th century it gave rise, importantly, to an infrastructure of specialists, artisans, technicians, and artists capable of producing any kind of object. Modernista architects did not think of buildings as consisting solely of the architectural structure, but as a collection of all the decorative elements they comprised.
Nature became the most popular source of inspiration for Modernista ornamentation, taking ideas from plants, animals, and the waves of the ocean. Asymmetric, undulating, and curved lines known as coup de fuet were present in the majority of works regarded as Modernista. This ornamentation always had a symbolic significance. The predominant idea was that of eternal movement, brevity, in relation to two very prominent subjects of Modernisme: beauty and death. Floral and plant decorations signifying the ephemeral or the fertile were frequently used in buildings and objects designed during this period.
Modernista buildings display a painstaking attention to detail. Even the front doors take on an important role as passageway to the inside, which is decorated flowing the outside style with murals, sculptures, lamps, stained glass windows, and custom-built furnishings. The sum of all these decorative elements is a clear sign of how Modernisme was characterized by an integration of all the art forms in a quest for the total work of art.
Although this decorative technique had existed for centuries in Catalonia, the use of mosaics reached its peak during the Modernista movement. Gaudi devised a unique technique called trencadis which consists of filling large surfaces with small, irregular pieces of broken ceramic, marble, glass and tiles, forming an original and strikingly colourful puzzle. Another interesting form taken by this material is the hydraulic mosaic tiling, created through a technique that joins Modernisme with industry. These tiles were formed by small coloured pieces arranged into simple geometric patterns.
Gaudi often employed glass as much to enclose space as for a decorative element. Stained glass is a common feature of Modernista works. They often adopted warm colors and were used as a decorative detail on galleries, windows and doors. Rather than expressing the religious themes found in Gothic restorations, these favour profuse colors rendered in geometric shapes and organic forms, as well as floral or animal motifs with clearly ornamental purposes. Gaudi also used natural light as one of his main architectural resources and often experimented with new craft techniques to obtain a variety of light tones.
December 4, 2024
I seldom find surplus value in 3-lingual artbooks, nor did I find it in this edition. I love Gaudi’s work and studied the load of pictures in this book which is nice, however these sometimes do overlap with one another. All Gaudi’s buildings and other projects are discussed in historical order with nice treatment of details, but each time I do miss a introducing drawing, map or layout of the project, or even a birdseye view-type of picture of the site.
March 4, 2023
What a guy
May 25, 2013
Profusely illustrated with modern, color photos. There are some b/w photos used, especially in situations where the project has been significantly modified or no longer exists. Just a few drawings. Short essays throughout the book explain the situation in which Gaudí's work was created. There is a short descriptive text about each project. Excellent value for the original price. Nice print quality, sewn binding, and slip cover for the two volumes. The text is somewhat clunky here and there, but the other strengths more than make up for it.
I read this after watching Teshigahara's film about Gaudí. These two volumes illustrate aspects of the projects not shown in the film and also projects not shown in the film at all. That said, the film is also excellent.
I read this after watching Teshigahara's film about Gaudí. These two volumes illustrate aspects of the projects not shown in the film and also projects not shown in the film at all. That said, the film is also excellent.
December 11, 2025
Antoni Gaudí: Het complete werk is een indrukwekkend overzicht van het oeuvre van de beroemde Catalaanse architect. Het boek laat zijn unieke stijl, creativiteit en technische meesterwerken prachtig zien. Voor mij voelt het bladeren door dit boek precies als terug zijn in Barcelona: de herinneringen aan een gezinsreis bijna twintig jaar geleden en een bezoek met vrienden bijna vier jaar geleden komen direct weer tot leven. Het geeft zowel een artistiek als persoonlijk gevoel van de stad en Gaudí’s betoverende architectuur.
January 29, 2020
Heel mooi boek met veel prachtige foto's van het werk van Gaudi.
Ook is er uitleg in verschillende talen waaronder het Nederlands.
Ook is er uitleg in verschillende talen waaronder het Nederlands.
November 17, 2009
Very detailed and totally delicious. Glossy photos galore!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews