Francisco Godia (1921–90), head of one of Barcelona’s great establishment families, liked fast cars (he came sixth in the 1956 Grand Prix season driving Maseratis) and fine art. An intriguing mix of medieval art, ceramics and modern paintings make up this varied private collection.
Housed in Casa Garriga Nogués, this is a stunning, carefully restored Modernista residence originally built for a rich banking family by Enric Sagnier in 1902–05.
The ground floor is given over to a display of Godia’s driving trophies (and goggles) and a video on his feats behind the wheel, as well as occasional temporary exhibitions.
The art is up the languidly curvaceous marble stairway on the 1st floor and organised along roughly chronological lines across 17 rooms. The first five are given over mostly to Romanesque and Gothic wooden sculptures. Some of these are especially arresting because of their well-preserved colouring. The early-14th-century wood cut of Joseph of Armithea (room 1), with its bright red, pyjama-like outfit, is a case in point. Jaume Huguet is represented in room 5 by Santa Maria Magdalena, a bright, Gothic representation of Mary Magdalene dressed in red ermine.
Room 6 is a long and overwhelming rococo room with aqua-green walls and a selection of Godia’s extensive ceramics collection, with pieces from all the historic porcelain production centres in Spain (including Manises in Valencia and Talavera de la Reina in Castilla-La Mancha). Admire the fine Modernista stained-glass windows in room 8.
Godia’s interests ranged from the Neapolitan baroque painter Luca Giordano to Catalan Modernisme and Valencia’s Joaquim Sorolla. Room 17, a gallery around the central staircase, contains several works by Modernista and Noucentista painters, like Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol and Isidre Nonell. There’s even a modest Miró.
