Picasso, Dalí & Miró — the Avant-garde of the 20th Century

No country has shaped 20th-century art more than Spain. Three giants — all born within 25 years — revolutionized Western art from the ground up.

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

Born in Málaga, raised in Barcelona, became famous in Paris. Picasso is the most prolific artist in history (over 50,000 works) and the co-founder of Cubism. His "Guernica" (1937) — the indictment of the bombing of the Basque town by the Condor Legion — is the most political artwork of the 20th century. It hangs in the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid (one of the three museums of the "Golden Triangle of Art" on Paseo del Prado).

Other Picasso museums: Museu Picasso Barcelona (early work), Museo Picasso Málaga (birthplace), Musée Picasso Paris.

Salvador Dalí (1904–1989)

The master of Surrealism — eccentric, genius, megalomaniac. His "soft watches" (The Persistence of Memory, 1931) are one of the most iconic images in art history. Dalí was not only a painter but also a filmmaker (with Buñuel), sculptor, designer, and self-promoter.

The Dalí Triangle in Catalonia: the Teatre-Museu Dalí in Figueres (designed by Dalí himself as a total work of art — the most visited museum in Spain after the Prado), his home in Port Lligat near Cadaqués (advance booking required!), and the castle Púbol (for his wife Gala).

Joan Miró (1893–1983)

The Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist created his own visual language of signs, stars, eyes, and colors — seemingly childlike but deeply considered. His works are in the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona (a Montjuïc highlight with a rooftop terrace) and in the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró in Palma de Mallorca (his studio). The Miró logo of the Spanish savings bank "la Caixa" is known to every traveler in Spain.