In a way, the book is a long overture followed by a short opera: the first half of the history is a warm-up to the 19th-century explosion of renewed Catalan pride, manifested in poetry, urban innovation and the work of the great modernista architects. Gaudi, of course, is the leading genius: his structural experiments took off from Catalan Gothic to produce amazing paraboloid arches; his rich details of fauna and flora in iron, stone or wildly colorful bits of tile drew on the work of the best Catalonian craftsmen. Hughes, Time magazine’s art critic, is a scrupulous historian; the only thing we want even more of in this exhaustive history is the stinging wit of his opinions.
title: “Catalunya Here I Come” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-04” author: “Dorothy Leung”
In a way, the book is a long overture followed by a short opera: the first half of the history is a warm-up to the 19th-century explosion of renewed Catalan pride, manifested in poetry, urban innovation and the work of the great modernista architects. Gaudi, of course, is the leading genius: his structural experiments took off from Catalan Gothic to produce amazing paraboloid arches; his rich details of fauna and flora in iron, stone or wildly colorful bits of tile drew on the work of the best Catalonian craftsmen. Hughes, Time magazine’s art critic, is a scrupulous historian; the only thing we want even more of in this exhaustive history is the stinging wit of his opinions.
