Fundació Francisco Godia

The Fundació Francisco Godia comprises in Barcelona one of the most important private art collections in Spain with over 100 works on display.

On Carrer Diputació, there is another building by Sagnier built in the same years as Casa Fargas, the Casa Garriga Nogués, which features corbels by Eusebi Arnau representing the ages of man, and stained glass windows on the piano nobile.

The Garriga Nogués family lived on the first floor until the Spanish Civil War broke out. It later housed a religious school and from 1986 was owned by Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, which carried out the initial renewal.

This building now hosts the Fundació Francisco Godia which comprises in Barcelona one of the most important private art collections in Spain with over 100 works on display and spans a broad period in art history, from the 12th century to the present day. 

The work performed to adapt the building to its current use by the Francisco Godia Foundation, converting it into a modern exhibition area, was directed by the architect Jordi Garcés, who had previously proven his skill in similar tasks - in particular the remodelling of the Picasso Museum in Barcelona.

The first floor is given prominence by the balcony hanging over the entrance, supported by four large corbels sculpted by Eusebi Arnau. The ground floor, which is now used as a hall for temporary exhibitions, has a shed structure supported by tall cast iron columns that extends back into the middle of the block. Visitors reach the first floor by climbing the grand staircase. The interior of the first floor, which houses the Francisco Godia Foundation's permanent collection, has been totally restructured in an effort to return it to its original condition : the line of rooms which ends in a landscape window crafted by A. Rigalt y C. as well as the large dining hall and its green marble columns and gilt bronze capitals.

A large anthological exhibition of the Francisco Godia Foundation collection, the most complete to date, is on display to start off this new era: the most important works of medieval art, Baroque painting, brilliant and tragic Modernism, the refinement of ceramics, and 19th, 20th and 21st century art by Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol, Nonell, Picasso, Joan Miró, Piero Manzoni, Karel Appel, Cristina Iglesias and Miquel Barceló.

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