The Drawings of Antonio Gaudi

June 25th, 1977 was to be the 125th anniversary of the birth of famed Antonio Gaudí (1852–1926), an occasion The Drawing Center celebrated in advance with their second exhibition: a major retrospective of the Catalan architect whose unique buildings had attracted millions to Barcelona. Exhibited there were more than 100 original drawings by Gaudí, which constituted about 90% of those actually in existence, seeing that the master's copious archive was totally destroyed in July 1936. This was the first time Gaudí's drawings had been shown outside of Spain and was the largest exhibition of this material ever mounted.

The exhibition was sponsored at the Center by The Consulate for Spain in New York and organized by guest curator George R. Collins, Professor of Art History at Columbia University and the leading, acknowledged authority on Gaudí. Professor Collins and Professor Juan Bassegoda (holder of the Gaudí chair at the School of Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Barcelona) obtained the drawings in Spain from Spanish museums and municipalities who for this occasion agreed to loan their national treasures.