"Antonio Gaudi - a genius or a madman?" - An exhibition of the great architect was opened in the Museum of Modern Art

Fantastic works by Antonio Gaudi have become the main business card of Barcelona. It is unlikely that there will be a person who has not heard anything about the house of Mil, the park of Guell and the most important masterpiece of the great architect - the Expiatory temple of the Holy Family.

More than 150 exhibits in the Moscow Museum of Modern Art talk about the Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), who is revered in Russia no less than at home. In his honor and for his reasons, we make the interiors of restaurants. Travel agencies are strictly instructed: if you go to Barcelona, ​​then, having thrown the suitcases in the hotel, run to watch Gaudi.

We have estimated Gaudi back in Soviet times. In 1980, his exhibition was held in Moscow, six years later a monograph was published by the Barcelona professor Nonel Bassegoda, written specifically for the Soviet fans of Gaudi. The humble publication instantly disappeared from the counters.

The editor of the book, the historian of architecture Vyacheslav Glazychev in the afterword writes: "In this architecture there is much more carnival mystery than the spirit of submissiveness, more a hymn to nature than self-destruction of a person. There are more magic here than religions, and the archaic epic prevailed over the Christian dogma. Gaudi is not an organic, but an organic architecture, not an imitation created by nature, but an imitation of its creative power. Genius is different from an outstanding talent, which does not find expression in the method. His method is inseparable from his personality. "

Of the 17 buildings built by the projects of Gaudi, seven are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. This is the same as showing seven films at the Cannes Film Festival and getting for three of them "Golden palm branches". Gaudi is usually considered to be modern, with a mandatory reservation that it is special, surreal. It is no accident that the architect was admired by the young Salvador Dali, although by that time the modern was already out of fashion. But he was also admired by Oscar Niemeyer, the star of functionalism.

Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMSI)
Moscow, Petrovka 25
24 May-10 September 2017