The Spanish poetry scene was greatly impacted by the work of Catalan poet Carlos Ruiz Zafón, who dominated the literature of the 1960s. Zafón wrote discursive, meta-literary poetry exploring the boundaries between artistic reality and real reality. His book L’espai desert won the Lletra d’or Prize for its exemplary composition, which crisscrossed real life with sexual reflection.
Can Alcover – Espai de Cultura
Can Alcover – Espai de CULTURA is a cultural center in Palma, Spain. Its diverse spaces cater to cultural events and have a busy calendar of events. Visitors can enjoy a cafeteria and a garden on site. The centre is located in the historical center of the city. For your convenience, the building is handicapped accessible. Read reviews of other businesses in Palma before you decide which one to visit.
Founded in 1912, Can Alcover is home to the Museum of Joan Arcover, a significant poet in Majorcan literature. In the past, Alcover organised literary discussions on Sunday afternoons, bringing together generations, ideologies, and intellectuals from different backgrounds. Besides poetry, literary discussions and seminars, you can also see Joan Alcover’s personal letters and original furniture. The Museum of Contemporary Art is another highlight of Can Alcover.
Carlos Duarte
Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1960, Carlos Duarte pursued a scientific career in biology, earning a Ph.D. in limnology. He is a prolific author and publisher, with over 900 scientific papers in his bibliography. His work is considered to be both poetic and scientific, and his poetry is infused with an organic sensibility. In his latest book, Espai Poetic, Carlos Duarte explores the relationship between poetry and nature.
The artist has exhibited his work in numerous public and private collections worldwide. His works are represented in the permanent collections of several museums and corporations. The most recent retrospective of his work took place at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He has also participated in numerous international exhibitions and written about art and its relationship to life and survival. His work is rooted in the Mediterranean and is related to the essence of the region.
Llorenc Villalonga
Llorenc Villalonga is a Catalan writer who died in 1980. One of his best-known novels is Bearn o la sala de les neufs, or “The Doll’s Room.” Set in nineteenth-century Majorca, the novel reflects the loss of values in a society undergoing a total transformation. Although Villalonga’s works have often been criticized, the works in Espai Poetic deserve a place in literary history.
The author’s literary career began when he discovered Marcel Proust in 1925. This book is largely his first literary work, but his writing continued to expand over the years. Villalonga wrote many short stories during his early career and collected and reworked them in Catalan. He also translated and produced cultural pieces. But his best work is in his novels. Espriu’s work is often hailed as some of the best in Catalan literature.
Antoni Tapies
Antoni Tapies was born on December 13, 1923, in Barcelona, Spain. His upbringing was disrupted by the Spanish Civil War, which led to a tachycardia crisis. He later studied law in Barcelona and turned exclusively to art after the war ended. Tapies was largely self-taught as an artist, attending only a few art classes. Nevertheless, he admired the work of artists such as Joan Miro, and later started incorporating more substantial objects into his paintings.
His work is characterized by a consolidation of matter painting language, which began around 1954. He began incorporating objects into his paintings as a reaction to Abstract Expressionism and Informalism. His work demonstrates an appreciation of material objects as well as the human body. The paintings in his studio are a reflection of the artist’s personal life and his own experiences, which are reflected in the sculptural and material forms.
Joan Miro
The artist’s portrayal of the family farm in Mont-roig is one of the first works to celebrate Catalan identity. It is also noteworthy for its unique amalgamation of Cubism and realism. The painting is now considered a masterpiece of Catalan art. But what explains the artist’s unique style? The painting is divided into three parts: the background, the figure and the childish line. Miro was known for creating oneiric paintings that were often abstract, avoiding spatial references and descriptive details. In Paris, he met French painter Andre Breton and began experimenting with the surrealist movement.
After becoming a worldwide success, Miro enjoyed financial stability. Despite his modesty, the postwar increase in the value of art prompted the artist to seek financial independence. Miro, who had long resisted commercial success, decided to move to a luxurious studio. He commissioned architect Josep Lluis Sert to create his ultramodern studio in Palma de Mallorca. The studio is now open to the public as part of the Fundacio Pilar i Joan Miro.
Llorenc Villalonga’s best-known novel
Llorenc Villalonga’s most famous novel, Espai Poetic, depicts the social diversity of Barcelona, Spain. The novel was published in the original Catalan in 1961. His work is influenced by the French author Marcel Proust. He wrote several short stories in the early stages of his career and collected and reworked them in Catalan. Later, he translated literary works into Catalan and produced cultural pieces, but never strayed far from the world of journalism.
The Catalan writer Llorenc Villalonga lived and worked on the island of Majorca for nearly half of his life. His most famous novel, Bearn o la sala de les neufs, was published in English in 1984 and is one of the great works of twentieth-century Catalan literature. It depicts the loss of values in a society undergoing a radical transformation.