The winners of the 2014 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards were recently unveiled by the European Commission and Europa Nostra. Among the 27 laureates are three initiatives related to Art Nouveau: in the category of Restoration, the Horta Museum of Brussels and the Cooperative Wineries Programme of Catalonia; in the category of Dedicated Service, the Gustav Klimt Memorial Society, Vienna

The European Heritage Awards Ceremony will be held in Vienna on 5 May.

For more information: http://www.europanostra.org/news/435/

The 19th- and 20th-century gallery rooms at the Museu Nacional d´Art de Catalunya (MNAC) will be closed to the public from 1 April 2014 to undergo a period of museum refurbishment work that will culminate with a new look presentation for the works by the end of September.

This new presentation will extend to the 1950s and cast more of a critical and complex eye on all artistic production work from the period: photography, posters, film, architecture, the decorative arts, sculpture and painting, with greater focus on the rooms dedicated to Modernisme, the International Exposition of 1929, the 1930s and the Civil War.

A selection of masterpieces from the period will be on display in MNAC´s temporary exhibition hall from 17 June to 31 August 2014.

For more information

The company that owns Casa Lleó i Morera (Passeig de Gràcia, 35), Núñez i Navarro, has reopened this Modernista building by Lluís Domènech i Montaner to the public. Previously reserved guided tours began on 20 January 2014 from Monday to Saturday in Catalan, Spanish and English. As well as informing visitors about the history of the building and the family that lived there, the tours also allow them to admire the rooms located on the main floor, which still preserve the work of the artists and artisans who decorated them, such as mosaics, ceramics, stained glass, sculptures or coffered ceilings. The last time the building was open to the public with guided tours was from 1997 to 1999, when it housed the main offices of the Barcelona Modernisme Route´s information centre.

For more information: www.casalleomorera.com

From 6 December, the general public will be able to discover the Fin de Siècle Museum and its collection of works by Belgian artists such as James Ensor, Fernand Khnopff, Léon Spilliaert, Victor Horta, Henry Van de Velde or Philippe Wolfers, as well as big names such as Paul Gauguin, Auguste Rodin, Pierre Bonnard, Émile Gallé, Louis Marjorelle and Alphonse Mucha. The museum will form part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (RMFAB) umbrella institution.

The Fin de Siècle Museum will take visitors on a journey through the art of the late 19th and early 20th century as framed within its historical context: landscape and modernity, De Coster and the birth of Belgian national literature, the rediscovery of the Primitives, Rops and Baudelaire, social art, the reception of Impressionism, literary and pictorial symbolism, Péladan and idealism, the decorative arts between Brussels and Nancy, La Monnaie and Wagner, Brussels and Art Nouveau, Spilliaert, Minne, Maeterlinck, the first Laethem School? An extensive programme that offers a comprehensive overview by combining the exhibition works with modern technological resources. To achieve this goal, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium works in joint partnership with the Royal Library of Belgium and La Monnaie Royal Theatre, as well as the Brussels Capital Region, which has donated on loan the extraordinary Gillion Crowet Collection, one of the highlights of the museum at the end of the visit. The Fin de Siècle Museum is set to become one of the jewels of our heritage.

For more information: http://www.fine-arts-museum.be/en/museums/musee-fin-de-siecle-museum

As of 25 October 2013, entrance to Park Güell is now by entrance ticket. The aim of this Barcelona City Council initiative is to limit visitor numbers in order to protect and preserve this architectural complex, designed by Antoni Gaudí. All profits from ticket sales will be used to maintain the site.

Ticket prices are subject to discounts depending on the age of visitors. Barcelona residents wishing to have free access must register with the Citizen Advice and Information Centre in Plaça de Sant Miquel. Registration means that they will form part of the Gaudir+BCN community, from which they can book entry and enjoy many other benefits. The Barcelona City Council has created this community in order to promote Park Güell and the work of Antoni Gaudí.

For further information:

Gaudir+BCN:
Customer service number: 902 200 302
(Monday to Friday from 9am to 9pm)
Email: gaudirmesbcn@bsmsa.cat
http://www.parkguell.cat