ADLAN, Amics de l’Art Nou [Friends of New Art] played a leading role in introducing cultural modernity to Barcelona in the 1930s. Whereas after the First World War avant-garde movements in major European cities had support from critics and collectors, in Barcelona modernity needed the impulse of a group of visionaries who viewed culture as a space for global freedom.
In November 1932, the association known as ADLAN was born in Barcelona, gathering members of the Catalan petite bourgeoisie who set out to regenerate the Catalan scene. From then until June 1936, right before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, ADLAN organized over 50 events in a heterogeneous program committed to all creative disciplines: painting, architecture, literature, jazz, circus, film, dance, etc. Their gatherings were private and held in alternative spaces, yet achieved a high public profile, in large part due to the press coverage their activities received. Alexander Calder, Man Ray, Hans Arp, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí were among the artists hosted by ADLAN. A long list of personalities gathered around founding members Joan Prats and Josep Lluís Sert: J. V. Foix, Sebastià Gasch, Lluís Montanyà, Mercè Ros, Carles Sindreu, and Josep Torres Clavé, among others.
Linked by ties of friendship with its promoters and an honorary member since 1933, Joan Miró became the standard-bearer for the group, showing his most recent work and collaborating in all of the projects that were carried out. ADLAN became the testing ground for his most experimental explorations and ADLAN members got an exclusive preview of the pieces that would then travel on to the leading centres of international modern art, such as Paris, New York, or Zurich.
Fundació Joan Miró, Miró-ADLAN. An Archive of Modernity (1932-1936), March 12 - July 4, 2021
