Els Quatre Gats: a modernist jewel in Barcelona

09.04.2021

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Els Quatre Gats: a modernist jewel in Barcelona

The beautiful city of Barcelona is known, among many other things, for its amazing modernist buildings. During the late XIX century and the begining of the XX, the Art Nouveau style spread through Europe and it also arrived to Catalonia, where it was adopted under the name of Modernism.

The catalan modernist artists weren’t that many, they knew each other and used to gather to talk about arts and life. The place where they usually met was a cafe named Els Quatre Gats. This little café was in the first floor of the Casa Martí, a building designed in 1897 by one of the most interesting and relevant modernists arquitects of history, Josep Puig i Cadafalch.

La Casa Martí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, 1897, Barcelona

The owner of the cafe was Pere Romeu, who had worked in the famous cabaret Le Chat Noir in Paris. When he came back to Barcelona, he opened Els Quatre Gats with the idea of it being a similar business as the parisian one. His plan worked and Els Quatre Gats quickly became the meeting place for the local artists, intellectuals and bohemians, who would host literary and musical evenings, pupet and shadow shows, poetic readings and, overall, art exhibitions inside the cafe.

‘Ramón Casas and Pere Romeu in a tandem’, Ramón Casas, 1897, MNAC

The café closed in 1903, but during those 6 years the walls of Els Quatre Gats were covered by the artworks of the most amazing modernist artists. Some of these artists who often frequented Els Quatre Gats were Santiago Rusiñol, Ramón Casas, Miquel Utrillo, Ricard Opisso, Joaquim Mir, Antoni Gaudí and even a very young Pablo Picasso. In fact, the two first exhibitions of Picasso took place in Els Quatre Gats, and we can’t understand the first stages of Picasso’s artworks without the influence of the modernist artists he met in Barcelona.

‘Pere Romeu and Els Quatre Gats’ menu’, Pablo Picasso, 1899-1900, Picasso Museum, Barcelona

The modern history of the city of Barcelona is linked to this little café. Modernism was shaped inside Els Quatre Gats, through all those conversations, exhibitions and readings, the local artists created their very own style and gave the city one of the most amazing periods of artistic creativity.

‘Romeu, Picasso, Canals, Casas, Rusiñol, Mir, Hugué, Vidal, Nonell y Mas.’, Ricard Opisso, 1899

Els Quatre Gats reopened in 1970 as a restaurant, and it is still functioning. The photos don’t make any justice to the building, not the spetacularity of the façade or the beauty of the interior. So, if you ever come to Barcelona, don’t forget to pass by this little café in Montsió street and go through its iron doors to breath the history of the city and feel like a modernist bohemian.

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