The grand protagonists of Modernisme
![](https://www.dissenyhub.barcelona/sites/default/files/styles/exhibition_field_thumb/public/exhibition_field/cgex003bis2.jpg?itok=rpvIO2Uz)
Door lintel. Antoni Gaudí i Cornet. Barcelona, 1906. Loan Gaudí Chair CGEX 003. Photo: Estudi Rafael Vargas
![](https://www.dissenyhub.barcelona/sites/default/files/styles/exhibition_field_thumb/public/exhibition_field/mcb_155017bis1.jpg?itok=d0Y-46gL)
Pitcher of the Quatre Gats. Fayans Català (productor). Sabadell, 1897. MCB 155.017. Photo: Guillem Fernández-Huerta.
![](https://www.dissenyhub.barcelona/sites/default/files/styles/exhibition_field_thumb/public/exhibition/mdb_1328.jpg?itok=S9mN9oji)
Wall light. Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Barcelona, c. 1907. MDB 1.328. Photo: Estudio Rafael Vargas
Modernisme became a reality in the decorative and applied arts, understood in its dual sense, as an ornamental object or applied to architecture. In the same way as in other countries, like Great Britain, old craft techniques were recovered. But in Catalunya this process was not achieved by rejecting the manufactured objects in order to make visible local values imbued with a Cosmopolitan spirit. For this reason, the subsidiary construction industries as well as all the ones specializing in ornamental products worked hard to renovate their designs, often with the participation of draftsmen and architects of prestige.
The art industries experienced spectacular development. One can speak of mixed manufacturing forms with industrial products completed by hand or artisanal products distributed by a modern commercial system. As a result, there is also a valuation of standardized products without detriment to the appreciation of the singular item.