Original artwork description:

COLORFUL BARCELONA PARK GUELL MAGIC NIGHT BY MOON is a commissioned textural impasto palette knife oil painting for a collector in Chicago, IL, U.S.A.

Magical night in Barcelona ...unforgettable, fascinating view from Park Guell ... huge moon reflecting in the waters of the distant sea ... amazing cathedral Sagrada Familia illuminated is nested between the abstract city patterns ... in the foreground the colorful serpentine mosaic bench of Gaudi, Casa del Guarda and Gaudi's uniquely conceived cross.

In Barcelona even the houses look like a mosaic of Gaudi. :) Since I always have stylized my abstract cityscapes in a manner that remind of a colorful mosaic, in all my Barcelona paintings I used a stylistic analogy. In the background I abstracted the city that looks like a colorful mosaic pattern and replies aesthetically the mosaic of the serpentine bench of Gaudi painted in the foreground.






Visited few times Barcelona ( first time in 2010 ) and I was impressed by the unique beauty of this city. The richness of the colors, the incredible Gaudi architecture. One of the moments I'll never forget was when I saw the entire Barcelona panoramic view from Park Guell.

Park Guell is a magical park with amazing buildings, sculptures and tile work designed by Antoni Gaudi , who's work is admired by architects around the world as being one of the most unique and distinctive architectural styles. Gaudi's work was greatly influenced by forms of nature and this is reflected by the use of curved construction stones, twisted iron sculptures and organic forms.

''Park G�ell (Catalan: Parc G�ell [ˈparɡ ˈɡweʎ]) is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel in the Gr�cia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaud� and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It has an extension of 17.18 ha (0.1718 km�), which makes it one of the largest architectural works in south Europe. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaud�".

Park G�ell is skillfully designed and composed to bring the peace and calm that one would expect from a park. The buildings flanking the entrance, though very original and remarkable with fantastically shaped roofs with unusual pinnacles, fit in well with the use of the park as pleasure gardens and seem relatively inconspicuous in the landscape when one considers the flamboyance of other buildings designed by Gaud�.


The focal point of the park is the main terrace, surrounded by a long bench in the form of a sea serpent. The curves of the serpent bench form a number of enclaves, creating a more social atmosphere. Gaud� incorporated many motifs of Catalan nationalism, and elements from religious mysticism and ancient poetry, into the Park.
Roadways around the park to service the intended houses were designed by Gaud� as structures jutting out from the steep hillside or running on viaducts, with separate footpaths in arcades formed under these structures. This minimized the intrusion of the roads, and Gaud� designed them using local stone in a way that integrates them closely into the landscape. His structures echo natural forms, with columns like tree trunks supporting branching vaulting under the roadway, and the curves of vaulting and alignment of sloping columns designed in a similar way to his Church of Col�nia G�ell so that the inverted catenary arch shapes form perfect compression structures.

The large cross at the Park's high-point offers the most complete view of Barcelona and the bay. It is possible to view the main city in panorama, with the Sagrada Fam�lia and the Montju�c area visible at a distance.'' ( wiki )

Materials used:

oil paints, canvas, palette knives

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