The most popular modernist painting: the Tandem
The modernism, or Art Nouveau in Catalonia, is a famous art movement that has in the architecture its most relevant discipline. However, there are more artistic areas that were very relevant at the end of 19th century.
This is an example of the Tandem, one of the most iconic drawings from the Modernism period from 1897. In the painting, Ramon Casas (the author) and his friend Pere Romeu were riding a tandem cycle with the Barcelona skyline behind.
This paining was placed in the beer-hall in a café called "Els Quatre Gats". "Els Quatre Gats" (The Four Cats in English) was a popular café in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Barcelona. It was a gathering place for many prominent artists, intellectuals, and politicians of the time, including Pablo Picasso, who made it a regular hangout during his formative years in the city.
The café was also associated with the Catalan Modernist movement and featured the work of many contemporary artists on its walls. It closed in 1903, but it was later re-opened and still in operation today.
Pere Romeu was the owner of "Els Quatre Gats" and, in the painting, you can see both friends (the painter and the owner of the café) riding a tandem bicycle.
This, and many other modernists paintings can be seen in the Catalan Art Museum (MNAC)
