Art, War and Memory
War has been a central theme at the MNAC for years, especially since 2021 with the opening of the rooms dedicated to art produced during the Spanish Civil War.
The Museum is present, and unfortunately current events are strongly marked by the tragedy of war and the systematic violation of human rights. We are living in a time of great political polarization, with a serious setback in values and rights that we believed to be untouchable.
Since October 2025, the MNAC has presented new displays in the Collection, three exhibitions and a programme of activities as part of a new initiative entitled Art, War and Memory.
Wounded Militiaman, by Francisco Mateos, is a propagandistic painting that denounces the rawness of the Civil War and exalts solidarity among soldiers. It was created in a context of urgency, with precarious means and reused materials, with the aspiration of featuring in the Spanish Republic Pavilion at the 1937 International Exposition of Paris, where Picasso's Guernica was also exhibited.
On view since 7 May
The exhibition focuses on the SDPAN (Servicio de Defensa del Patrimonio Nacional – National Heritage Protection Service), created by the Francoist authorities at the end of the Spanish Civil War. It presents the Museum as an – albeit involuntary – participant during the war, serving for the second time as a repository for works of art.
From February 20 to 4 October 2026
The MNAC becomes the leading institution for the visual work of Helios Gómez, thanks to a significant donation from his son, Gabriel Gómez Plana. The collection offers a broad representation of the artist’s creative output and moments, from the 1920s through the postwar period and into the 1950s.
Since 2025 – Rooms 74, 75, 77 and 78.
Marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the exhibition introduces visitors to the artist Mario Armengol, one of the most internationally renowned Catalan caricaturists and yet virtually unknown to the general public.
From 8 October 2025 to 11 January 2026
This exhibition highlights some of the finest draughtsmen represented in the MNAC collections, featuring satirical and protest illustrations relating to the First World War.
From 8 October 2025 to 11 January 2026
The exhibition will provide a cross-cutting look at post-war art, a period marked, among others, by existentialist philosophy but which goes beyond this intellectual framework to reflect a spirit of the time shared by different cultural imaginaries.
From 27 October 2023 to 11 February 2024
Catalan art suffered serious consequences from the Civil War. In the face of the fascist insurrection and the subsequent outbreak of revolutionary violence, the Catalan authorities responded with an extraordinary effort to safeguard and organise the heritage.
From 15 July 2021 to 27 February 2022
The museum is renewing its exhibition discourse and, at the same time, expanding the number of rooms in the permanent collection of modern art dedicated to art produced during the period of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
Since 1 July 2021
The installation by the artist Francesc Torres presents two full-scale (1:1) aircraft in the Sala Oval, replicas of two aeroplane models that took part in the Spanish Civil War.
From 18 June to 12 September 2021
The exhibition explores the different facets of the photographer’s work, focusing on the photographs he took during the Spanish Civil War, which were discovered by chance by his family in 2018.
From 19 March to 18 July 2021
Online exhibition: Antoni Campañà. Les tensions d’una mirada (1906-1989)
The Art, War and Memory programme includes a series of activities such as guided tours, lectures, live podcasts, and art workshops. It also features activities organised by the Friends of the National Museum Foundation, some of them exclusive to members. Throughout the season, the schedule will be published here so you don’t miss any activity. Keep it handy!
WebApp Del conflicte a la vinyeta (From Conflict to the Comic Strip)
Revolution and drawing in the streets of Barcelona
“Drawings from the National Museum” seen by… Albert Martí
On the MNAC YouTube channel, you can find audiovisual resources exploring art and the role of artists in times of conflict.
