Hi all!
It’s me Amruta ..back after a short break….
And wondering how the heck to present the work of an artist .. so gargantuan .. it has left the world stunned!
Yes .. the art of ANTONI GAUDI!
It is impossible to typecast or classify GAUDIS. work…. his buildings .. his art …
Was it ART NOUVEAU?
Quite A bit…! After all it has ORGANIC forms in it….!
Was it PART – SYMBOLIC?
Well … Partly!
Was it CATALAN MODERNISM?
Yes and No…!
Did it have elements of GOTHIC and ISLAMIC ART….. Yes!
So JUST WHAT WAS it …??
Can’t say for sure … But AMAZING, ECLECTIC and ORIGINAL …..
It certainly is! Have a look…..
Born in Reus in 1826 , GAUDI moved to Barcelona in Southern Spain to study ARCHITECTURE!
When handing over his degree his teacher said… he didn’t know whether it was being given to a MADMAN or to a GENIUS ! Only time would tell…
Time Did Tell..,! SEVEN of Gaudis buildings are WORLD HERITAGE SITES!
Gaudi felt that ART and ARCHITECTURE should be derived from and follow NATURE…. and as natural forms rarely have straight lines…. (quite true .. come to think of it!)…His constructions too ….full of natural CURVES, ARCHES, PARABOLAS…..!
So if construction was to be curved and sinuous… how were rectangular symmetrical bricks going to cover the curved grids???
Stated simply .. they couldn’t!
So GAUDI developed a system called TRENCADIS…..using bits of tiles to cover nude walls in a mosaic pattern .. arresting and ingenious !
Another outstanding feature of GAUDI Art was the use of COLOUR …. bold , bright , strange ,even outlandish.. !!
The term GAUDY though , though it means GARISH , OSTENTATIOUS, LURID..,.,is NOT derived from GAUDI …
Just so you know!!!
All of Gaudis projects needed tons of money…How was he to finance them??
EUSEBI GUELLE ( 1846- 1918 ) was a man who noticed Gaudis Genius! And GUELLE had both……
an EYE for DESIGN
And MONEY!!
There’s much to learn from the Symbiotic Friendship .. of Guelle and GAUDI
Both respected each other……And complemented each other.. creating Magic !
Guelle commissioned GAUDI to make his home .. Palau Guelle ….
And gardens… Park Guelle…
And many other buildings , each a spectacular piece of art …….also FURNITURE … each an unusual piece… have a look ….
As GAUDI grew older the more he introspected, the more his food became spartan , the more his personal appearance careless …
All that mattered to him was the construction of his most beloved project… LA SAGRADA FAMILIA … a breathtakingly beautiful Roman Catholic Church.:, made of 18 vertical towering columns reaching heavenwards telling the story of Jesus.. the stories of the Bible.
Inside the Sagrada … there are pillars.. like trees in a forest ,branching and holding aloft the ceiling made of the strongest building materials available. The play of light and colour tantalising ..
In his last years GAUDI would often sleep at the construction site . Alas .. in 1926 when ONLY 8 columns of the church were complete …GAUDI tragically died in a road accident ….
The Master had gone… How was the Sagrada ever going to be completed???
There were NO BLUEPRINTS… but GAUDI knew he would not be alive to see the final construction of the tallest church in the world… So he made PLASTER MODELS of the extremely complicated and extraordinary design of the basilica …,. with aeronautical precision !
To BUILD and complete this humongous project… …It has taken THREE GENERATIONS of architects , sculptors and artists !
The Sagrada is NOW estimated to be complete only by 2026…. !
A CENTURY after Gaudis death !!!
By that time …..it would be 130 years in its making , just short of the Great Wall of China (which took 150 years to construct)
Watch the following video and visualise the VISION of ‘GODS ARCHITECT’…ANTONI GAUDI !
http://www.youtube.com/embed/RcDmloG3tXU?start=13&rel=0
No guesses then where Amruta will be in 2026….
Naturally ……touring with Twinny….!
Exploring Barcelona …..
Looking up with wondrous awe …….
Suffused with the beauty of the Sagrada…. a MONUMENT devoted to the GODS…
The same Gods who created Human Miracles!
Long live GAUDI !!!
Byeeeeee!
A Second Learning 
Dear Amrita,your article is as usual beautiful and exuberating your liking knowledge and love for art. So well written, pointing out every characteristic of the art form and the artist. I am novice to this field and this form of art but could equally enjoy it as a connoisseur would do. You made the difference. Waiting for the next week.
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Thankyou Amala!
Love it that you like!!
There is so much to learn
And so little time… !
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Superb photo-essay. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I have spent 2 full (though grossly inadequate) days going up and down Barcelona admiring his works. He was undoubtedly a genius. I believe he had the genius of transforming mathematics into art during an age when there was no computational expertise. Sheer genius !
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Hey Sid !
You too lucky !
Will make it before 2026 … I think!
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