The set of sculptures in the Plaça de Catalunya was created between 1927 and 1929 for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. The Catalonia Square (in Catalan: Plaça de Catalunya) is one of the main centers of Barcelona, and is located in the Eixample district, at the confluence between the Rambla de Canaletas, the carrer de Pelai, the ronda de la Universitat, the Rambla de Catalunya, Passeig de Gràcia, Ronda de Sant Pere, Fontanella street and Portal de l'Àngel. It has an area of 5 hectares.^[1]

Plaça de Catalunya began to be urbanized in 1902, although the high point of the works took place in the 1920s, with a view to the celebration of the International Exposition. In 1927 a public competition was organized to decorate the square, in which it was decided to install 28 sculptures by artists such as Eusebi Arnau, Joan Borrell, Enric Casanovas, Josep Clarà, Josep Dunyach, Jaume Duran, Pablo Gargallo, Josep Llimona, Frederic Marès, Enric Monjo, Vicenç Navarro, Llucià Oslé, Miquel Oslé, Jaume Otero, Antonio Parera, Josep Tenas and Josep Viladomat.^[2] This ensemble is one of the largest in Barcelona in terms of public art, and is an authentic open-air sculpture museum.

Barcelona had fond memories of the Universal Exposition of 1888, which represented a great advance for the city in the economic and technological fields, as well as the remodeling of the Ciutadella Park. Therefore, in the 1920s, a new exhibition was planned to showcase the new technological advances and promote the image of Catalan industry abroad. Once again, the exhibition led to the remodeling of a part of the city, in this case the Montjuic mountain, as well as its surrounding areas, especially the Plaça d'Espanya. But numerous actions were also carried out throughout the city, such as the remodeling of Plaça de Catalunya; the landscaping of Plazas Tetuán, Urquinaona and Letamendi; the construction of the Marina Bridge; and the extension of Avinguda Diagonal to the west and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes to the southwest. Various public works were also carried out: street asphalting and sewerage were improved, public toilets were installed and gas lighting was replaced by electric lighting. Several buildings were remodeled, such as the City Hall and the Generalitat, the Post Office building and the Estación de Francia, which had been under construction for several years, were completed, and the Royal Palace of Pedralbes was built as the residence of the royal family. Finally, the city's communications were improved, with the construction of the El Prat Airport, the improvement of links to the suburbs, the electrification of public streetcars and the extension of Metro line 1. All these public works led to a strong demand for employment, causing a large increase in immigration to the city from all parts of Spain.^[3]

The Exposition meant a great urban development for Barcelona, as well as a testing ground for the new architectural styles developed at the beginning of the 20th century. Locally, it represented the consolidation of Noucentisme, a classicist style that replaced the modernism that prevailed in Catalonia during the turn of the century. It also meant the introduction in Spain of international avant-garde trends, especially architectural rationalism, through the German Pavilion of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.^[4]

As for the Plaza de Cataluña, it was extensively remodeled. It was formerly an esplanade on the outskirts of the medieval center, which did not begin to be developed until 1902. This square was not foreseen in Ildefonso Cerdá's Eixample plan, and was added to the project by the Barcelona City Council as a link between the old city and the new neighborhoods that emerged after the demolition of the medieval walls. Since 1860, several buildings were built, such as houses and entertainment venues of various kinds, such as circuses and theaters. For the Universal Exposition of 1888 some gardening work was done and a pond with a fountain was installed in the center of the square. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the land necessary for the square was expropriated, and in 1902 the first effective intervention was made, in the form of paths and flowerbeds, with a layout in the shape of a cross.^[5]

Since then, several urbanization projects were considered but did not come to a successful conclusion, the last one designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch in 1915. Finally, in 1923, a competition was organized among professors of the School of Architecture, and on February 17, 1925, the project drawn up by Francesc Nebot, director of the School and deputy mayor of Public Works, was chosen, leading a team formed by Pere Domènech i Roura, Enric Catà, Eugenio Cendoya, Félix de Azúa and Antoni Darder. The works took place between 1926 and 1929, although during their progress the square was inaugurated by Alfonso XIII on November 2, 1927.^[6]

In the middle of the process, in January 1927, Nebot resigned as director of the works, because the council rejected his intention to place in the upper part of the square a pavilion with a colonnade decorated with female sculptures. He was replaced by Joaquim Llansó, assisted by Josep Cabestany and Nicolás María Rubió Tudurí.^[7]

A public competition was organized in 1927 to decorate the square, with a jury made up of politicians and municipal technicians and a representation of the main artistic entities of the city.^[8] Ninety projects were presented, of which the allegorical groups of Wisdom and Work by the Oslé brothers were chosen to appear in front of the Ramblas; three allegories of the Catalan provinces (Barcelona, by Marès; Gerona, by Parera; and Lérida, by Borrell) —the one of Tarragona was commissioned out of competition to Jaume Otero—; 16 stone statues for the colonnaded pavilion designed by Nebot, with works by Viladomat, Tarrach, Clarà, Llimona, Casanovas, Dunyach, Navarro, Arnau and Gargallo; and 12 statues and high reliefs for the niches in the square, by the artists Llimona, Navarro, Arnau, Tenas, Duran, Monjo, Gargallo, Alsina, Tarrach, Renart, Rebull and Soto. However, because of the "notorious difference in style with the rest of the square" the works of the last five were finally rejected in March 1928, and replaced by others by Monjo, Marès, Otero, Parera and Borrell. On the other hand, the derogation of the construction of the upper pavilion meant that in May 1929 eight of the sixteen sculptures planned for that space were finally not placed, while the rest were placed on a terrace that replaced the pavilion. Lastly, the placement of La Diosa by Clarà, a commission outside the competition, was approved.^[9]

Finally, 28 works were installed: Maternity, by Vicenç Navarro; Young, by Josep Dunyach; The forger, by Josep Llimona; Woman with child and piccolo, by Josep Viladomat; Female Figure, by Enric Casanovas; Youth, by Josep Clarà; Flute Shepherd, by Pablo Gargallo; Navigation, by Eusebi Arnau; Barcelona, by Frederic Marès; Montserrat, by Eusebi Arnau; Female Figure, by Josep Llimona; Hercules, by Antonio Parera; Woman with Angel, by Vicenç Navarro; Tarragona, by Jaume Otero; Fuente de los seis putti, by Jaume Otero; Lérida, by Joan Borrell; Mujer con imagen de la Virgen, by Enric Monjo; El espíritu popular, by Jaume Otero; Pastor del águila, by Pablo Gargallo; Pomona, by Enric Monjo; Wisdom, by Miquel Oslé; The Goddess, by Josep Clarà; Work, by Llucià Oslé; Emporion, by Frederic Marès; Fisherman, by Josep Tenas; Woman, by Joan Borrell; Montseny, by Jaume Duran; and Gerona, by Antonio Parera.^[10] Originally there was also in the square the group Niños cabalgando sobre peces (1928), by Frederic Marès, a fountain with water jets and four of the figures indicated in the title, which was moved in 1961 to the intersection of Gran Vía and Rambla de Cataluña.^[11]

With regard to this set, some changes made on the way in the original project led to the replacement of several pieces and their transfer to other areas of the city. One of the main reasons was the cancellation of the pavilion designed by Nebot, so some of the sculptures made for this element were relocated in different places: four of them, executed by Eusebi Arnau, Josep Llimona, Enric Casanovas and Àngel Tarrach, were placed on the entrance wall of the Royal Palace of Pedralbes; two others, by Josep Dunyach (Diosa) and Vicenç Navarro (La noche), were installed in the park of the Citadel; and two more (Fertilidad, by Josep Clarà, and La vendimiadora, by Pablo Gargallo), in the Miramar Gardens, in Montjuic. Another reason for the surplus of works was the decision to make all the sculptural groups in the square in bronze —except for those on the upper terrace, which are in stone—, with the result that some works that had already been executed in stone had to be repeated, and the surplus were relocated: Lérida, by Manuel Fuxá, and Tarragona, by Jaume Otero, which were installed on Avinguda Diagonal, in front of the Royal Palace of Pedralbes. Finally, the work entitled Marinada or Danzarina, by Antonio Alsina, was placed in the gardens of the Umbráculo, in the Santa Madrona de Montjuic promenade, in this case because it was a female nude that was not seen with good eyes by the prevailing morals of the time.^[12]

Between November and December 1928 various religious and parents' associations launched a moralizing campaign against the excess of nudes in the square, which was answered between December 1928 and January 1929 by various artistic associations, and even a group of Catholic ladies who thought it "ridiculous to consider the nude in art as an obscene work". Even so, the moralizing campaign caused the withdrawal of Clarà's La diosa for a few months, although it was later returned to its location. Its main achievement was the exile of Antonio Alsina's Marinada to a secluded place in the mountain of Montjuic —this sculptor was left without a work in the square, since another of the initially approved works, Los bueyes de la abundancia, was discarded for stylistic reasons, and after a time stored in a warehouse, it is now in the park of Industrial Spain—. On the other hand, some of the works were mutilated, such as the first version of the Tarragona de Otero group —currently on Avinguda Diagonal—, which presented an integral female nude that had to be covered with a drape on the pubis, while a naked angel on a dolphin was eliminated.^[13]

Since 1929 the sculptural ensemble of the square has remained practically unchanged, with the exception of the transfer in 1961 of the Fountain of the children riding fish, or the replacement in 1982 of the Goddess by Clarà by a copy, since the original was placed in the lobby of the Casa de la Ciudad. In 1937 a Monument to the Unknown Soldier was placed, work of Miquel Paredes, which was removed two years later after the victory of Franco's army.^[14] In 1959 the ornamental fountains were installed on the mountain side of the square, the work of Fernando Espiau Seoane. The last sculpture was placed in 1991, the Monument to Francesc Macià by Josep Maria Subirachs. In 1993 were replaced by copies of the Youth by Clarà and the Pastor of the flute of Gargallo, due to its state of deterioration. In 2008 works were carried out by the company RUBATEC to remodel the pavement surrounding the square, the mosaic that houses in the center and improve access by adding ramps.^[15]

• Sculptures discarded from the Square
• Tarragona, by Jaume Otero, avinguda Diagonal.
• Marina, de Eusebi Arnau, Royal Palace of Pedralbes.
• Fertility, de Josep Clarà, jardins de Miramar.
• La vendimiadora, by Pablo Gargallo, jardins de Miramar.
• Goddess, de Josep Dunyach, parc de la Ciutadella.
• The night, de Vicente Navarro, parc de la Ciutadella.
• Marinada, de Antonio Alsina, jardins de l'Umbracle, Montjuic.

The Catalonia Square has the shape of an irregular quadrilateral, wider on the southern side than on the northern side. On the mountain side, where the small temple designed by Nebot was to be located, a terrace was installed at a slightly higher level than the rest of the square, where the eight statues chosen from the sixteen originally planned for this place were placed, all in stone, located on pedestals or on the railings of the terrace, four facing the mountain (Maternity, by Navarro; Young Woman, by Dunyach; Shepherd with the Flute, by Gargallo; and Navigation, by Arnau), and four facing the sea (The Forger, by Llimona; Woman with Child and Piccolo, by Viladomat; Female Figure, by Casanovas; and Youth, by Clarà). On this terrace was located the fountain Niños cabalgando peces by Marès, moved in 1961 to the intersection of Gran Vía and Rambla de Cataluña, while in 1959 the ornamental fountains designed by Espiau were installed.^[17]

The rest of the sculptures, all in bronze, are distributed along an oval-shaped balustrade located inside the square, surrounded by oaks and surrounding the central mosaic of the square, which is usually populated by pigeons. They are located in pedestals or niches placed on high pillars of paired columns, of which there are two between each group placed on pedestal. These pillars also have reliefs with coats of arms of the Catalan capitals, work of Antoni Agramunt Marsal. The works are as follows, clockwise from the intersection between Paseo de Gracia and Ronda de Sant Pere: Barcelona, by Marès; Montserrat, by Arnau (mountain side), on the same pillar as Female Figure, by Llimona (sea side); Hercules, by Parera (mountain), placed with Woman with Angel, by Navarro (sea); Tarragona, by Otero; Fountain of the six putti, by Otero (facing the Portal of the Angel); Lérida, by Borrell; Woman with image of the Virgin, by Monjo (Besós side), on the pillar that forms a pair with The popular spirit, by Otero (Llobregat side); Eagle Shepherd, by Gargallo (Besós), located with Pomona, by Monjo (Llobregat); Wisdom, by Miquel Oslé; Work, by Llucià Oslé; Emporion, by Marès (sea side), on the reverse of Fisherman, by Tenas (mountain side); Woman, by Borrell (sea side), paired with Montseny, by Duran (mountain side); and Gerona, by Parera. Finally, in the southeast corner of the square, facing the Ramblas, was located inside a pond The goddess by Clarà; next to it was placed in 1991 the Monument to Francesc Macià by Subirachs.^[18]

• Public art in Barcelona
• 1929 Barcelona International Exposition