Fundacio Joan Miro

Miro founded the institution in 1975 and gave it much of his own work, and the building was designed by his friend Josep Lluis Sert, who had worked with Le Corbusier and spent the Franco years in exile in the United States: white concrete, courtyards, and roof lanterns that pull daylight down into the galleries without direct sun, so almost all the lighting is natural. The collection runs to around fourteen thousand pieces including paintings, sculpture, ceramics and the whole of his graphic work, arranged more or less chronologically, with the Foundation Tapestry and the mercury fountain by Alexander Calder, made for the 1937 Spanish pavilion in Paris. A roof terrace holds sculpture and gives a view over the city.

What you actually see

• The Sert building - white concrete lit through roof lanterns.
• The chronological galleries - work from the 1910s to the 1970s.
• The Calder mercury fountain - made for the 1937 Paris pavilion.
• The roof terrace - sculpture and a view across Barcelona.

When to go

Year-round; the museum closes on Mondays and is quieter than the Picasso Museum. Sunny days give the daylighting its intended effect, which is much of the point of the building.

Honest expectations

Miro's work is more consistently abstract than Picasso's and some visitors find a full collection repetitive. Getting there involves a funicular or bus up Montjuic. Temporary exhibitions may require a supplement.

Nearby

The Catalan art museum and Montjuic castle are on the hill; Poble Sec lies below.