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Víctor Balaguer Museum and Library

Vilanova i la Geltrú

Víctor Balaguer Library Museum, founded in 1884.

Víctor Balaguer Library Museum, founded in 1884.

The Víctor Balaguer Museum and Library, founded in 1884 by politician and writer Víctor Balaguer, is one of the oldest and most unique museums in Catalonia. It retains a large part of its original aesthetics and collections, dating back to the 19th century.

Its rooms house works of painters such as Ramon Martí Alsina, Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, Isidre Nonell, Joaquim Mir and Xavier Nogués, among others, providing an exceptional journey through Catalan art from Romanticism to Contemporary Art, including an important collection of Informalist art.

The painting section is complemented by the permanent exhibition of twenty Spanish and European Baroque oil paintings from the historical collection storage of the Prado Museum.

The ethnographic collections include exhibits from the Philippines, Egypt, China and Japan, as well as a display of pre-Columbian art. There is an outstanding Egyptian collection, the first in Catalonia, which includes among its pieces the mummy of a child.

AUDIOGUIDE

00. Víctor Balaguer Library Museum

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SPACES

<p>Appearance of the Art Gallery at the end of the 19th century.</p>
19th-century painting and sculpture collection
19th-century painting and sculpture collection
<p>V&iacute;ctor Balaguer i Cirera (1824-1901), founder of the institution.</p>
The Founder
The Founder
<p>Photograph of the V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and&nbsp;Library shortly after it opened to the public.</p>
A 19th-century museum
A 19th-century museum
<p>The permanent loan from the Prado dates back to the years when the V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum was first opened.</p>
Baroque art. The permanent loan from the Prado Museum
Baroque art. The permanent loan from the Prado Museum
<p>The mummy Nesi, donated by Eduard Toda, presides over the Egyptian room.</p>
Eduard Toda’s ancient Egyptian legacy
Eduard Toda’s ancient Egyptian legacy
<p>The Silvela Room houses the Oriental, Pre-Columbian and the Philippines collections, among others.</p>
A journey through the cultures of the world
A journey through the cultures of the world
<p>Room where works from the modernista period are exhibited.</p>
The period of Modernisme
The period of Modernisme
<p>This section exhibits the paintings that decorated the walls of the Caf&egrave; del Foment.</p>
The artists from Vilanova i La Geltrú
The artists from Vilanova i La Geltrú
<p>In the section set aside for contemporary art, there are paintings and sculptures from around the 1960s.</p>
The continuation of the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona
The continuation of the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona

OBJECTS

<p><em>Beauty Overcoming Force</em>, Venanci Vallmitjana, 1886. Plaster, 186&times;79&times;125 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Beauty Overcoming Force
Beauty Overcoming Force
<p><em>Stormy Sea</em>, Ramon Mart&iacute; Alsina, between 1875 and 1884. Oil on canvas, 137&times;239 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Stormy Sea
Stormy Sea
<p><em>Rainy Afternoon</em>, also called&nbsp;<em>The Garden Porch</em>, Santiago Rusi&ntilde;ol, 1889. Oil on canvas, 124x68.5 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Rainy Afternoon
Rainy Afternoon
<p><em>Andromeda in Chains</em>, Peter Paul Rubens, 1634. Oil on canvas, 193&times;104 cm. Permanent loan from the Prado Museum.</p>

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Andromeda in Chains
Andromeda in Chains
<p><em>Egyptian Mummy of the Child Nesi</em>, New Empire, from the area of Thebes, 83&times;19&times;15.5 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Nesi
Nesi
<p>Wooden stuccoed and polychrome figure of the god Osiris from Akhmim, Egypt, 40.5x8.5&times;5.5 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Osiris
Osiris
<p>Quetzalc&oacute;atl, between 1300 and 1520. Granite, from Mexico, 45&times;20&times;20 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Quetzalcoatl, Pre-Columbian go
Quetzalcoatl, Pre-Columbian god of the wind
<p>Brass and iron chain mail, from the Philippines, 80&times;80 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Philippine chain mail
Philippine chain mail
<p>Samurai decorative armour from the 19th century. Donated by Eduard Toda i G&uuml;ell, 1884.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Samurai suit of armour
Samurai suit of armour
<p><em>Montmartre</em>, Ramon Casas, 1890-1891. Oil on canvas, 64x45 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Montmartre
Montmartre
<p><em>Portrait of a Little Girl</em>, Joan Brull, undated. Oil on canvas, 41.2&times;31.8 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Little Girl
Little Girl
<p><em>Vilanova Carnival Processions,</em> Joaquim Mir, 1925-1926. Oil on canvas, 149&times;201 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Vilanova Carnival Processions
Vilanova Carnival Processions
<p><em>The Porch</em>, Enric Crist&ograve;for Ricart, 1918. Oil on canvas, 56&times;54 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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The Porch
The Porch
<p><em>Confined Universe</em>, Armand Cardona Torrandell, 1959. Chipboard on wood, 121&times;169 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Confined Universe
Confined Universe
<p><em>Nocturne of Cats</em>, Rafael Zabaleta, 1956. Oil on canvas, 100&times;82 cm.&nbsp;V&iacute;ctor Balaguer Museum and Library.</p>

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Nocturne of Cats
Nocturne of Cats

INFORMATION

ADDRESS
FEES
TELEPHONE
WEBSITE
http://www.victorbalaguer.cat
OPENING TIMES
GETTING HERE
EMAIL
informacio@victorbalaguer.cat

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