Gallifa () is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the
''comarca'' of the
Vallès Occidental
Vallès Occidental () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in the Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona, Barcelona region in Catalonia (Spain). It has two capitals, Sabadell and Terrassa. Along with Vallès Oriental, it forms the historical Va ...
in
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
, north-eastern
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
[Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). ''Guia de Catalunya'', Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. (Spanish). (Catalan).] It contains the
Castle of Gallifa and was the location of the studio of ceramic artist
Josep Llorens i Artigas
Josep Llorens i Artigas (16 June 1892 – 11 December 1980) was a Spanish ceramic artist known for his collaboration with Joan Miró. He is credited with relaunching ceramics as a European art form.
Life
Artigas was born in Barcelona on 16 June ...
and his son.
Claim to fame
The
Castle of Gallifa overlooks the village from a height of 600 metres.
[Castles in Spain]
, Spain.net, retrieved May 2014
In 1953
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...
and
Josep Llorens i Artigas
Josep Llorens i Artigas (16 June 1892 – 11 December 1980) was a Spanish ceramic artist known for his collaboration with Joan Miró. He is credited with relaunching ceramics as a European art form.
Life
Artigas was born in Barcelona on 16 June ...
worked at Artigas's studio in Gallifa. There they created "firestones" which they exhibited under their joint names, including in 1956 a joint exhibition in New York. The following year the two worked on a mural for the UNESCO headquarters and for the
University of Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher learni ...
. The tiles that made up the two murals for the UNESCO building were created in Gallifa and Miro supervised their installation in Paris. The murals are called
"The Wall of the Sun" and "The Wall of the Moon".
[MIRO, Joan (1893-1983), with José Llorens ARTIGAS]
UNESCO, retrieved 11 May 2014
The tiles for Joan Miró's ceramic mural (the
Miró Wall) were fired in Gallifa and they were then transported 1200 km to the
Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...
museum in Germany. They were placed four to a box so that they could be moved down the mountain by mule. After that lorries and the train were used to complete the journey from Catalonia to south western Germany.
References
External links
Official website
Government data pages
{{Authority control
Municipalities in Vallès Occidental