Eusebi Güell is one of the most important figures Antoni Gaudí ever encountered in his life, to the point that the architect’s career cannot be understood without his influence. Who was Eusebi Güell? How did Gaudí and Güell meet? How many commissions did Güell give to Gaudí? We will explain all these questions and more in this article on VisitarSagradaFamilia.com. Keep reading to learn about the special relationship between Gaudí and Güell.
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Table of contents
- Biography of Eusebi Güell
- How Gaudí and Güell met
- Works and commissions by Eusebi Güell
- Influence of Eusebi Güell
Biography of Eusebi Güell
Eusebi Güell was born in 1846 and tragically lost his mother, Francesca Bacigalupi i Dulcet, just a few days after his birth. Three years later, his father, Joan Güell i Ferrer, remarried Francesca’s sister, Camila. In 1853, the family grew with the birth of Josefina. But misfortune struck the Güell family a second time when Camila died three days after giving birth.
Eusebi Güell grew up in a well-positioned and very wealthy family thanks to their businesses in Cuba first and later in Catalonia, where his father founded several companies.
From a young age, he showed great interest in study, culture, and the arts, while also engaging in business. He studied Law, Economics, and Applied Sciences, and took multiple trips across Europe.
In adulthood, he expanded the family businesses and founded several successful companies, while serving as a board member in some companies of his wife Isabel López i Bru’s family. All this ran in parallel with an active political life that led him to hold various offices: Barcelona city councillor, provincial deputy, and Senator of the Kingdom.
As a patron, he is known to have supported emerging artists across various fields (literature, music, etc.) and participated in cultural institutions, for instance presiding over the Jocs Florals and sponsoring cultural publications such as La Renaixença.
These biographical notes reveal a multifaceted personality with diverse interests and a very active life. There is even more: he and his wife Isabel had no fewer than 10 children.
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How Gaudí and Güell met
The starting point of the relationship between Gaudí and Güell takes us to Paris, specifically the 1878 Universal Exposition. There, Eusebi Güell was impressed by the modernity and quality of a display case exhibiting products from Guantería Comella. Back in Barcelona, he inquired about the designer of that display case, which was the work of Taller Puntí with collaboration from the young Antoni Gaudí.
Güell’s interest soon translated into Gaudí’s first small commissions: the furnishings of the pantheon chapel at the Palacio de Sobrellano (Güell’s father-in-law’s) and the famous Pavilions of the Güell estate, via the architect Joan Martorell.
Works by Gaudí commissioned by Güell
The mutual trust and understanding between Eusebi Güell and Antoni Gaudí produced a remarkable array of architectural works in Barcelona and its surroundings. Gaudí led several Güell commissions over the years until he decided to devote himself entirely to the great project of his life, the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia.
Pavilions of the Güell Estate
Located on the former Güell family estate in Pedralbes, they stand out for their fantastic architecture and use of wrought iron, such as the mythical dragon symbolizing the Garden of the Hesperides.
Palau Güell
A masterpiece of early Modernism, this urban palace was one of Gaudí’s first major commissions. Still in his Orientalist phase, his innovative use of space and light makes it one of Barcelona’s most astonishing interiors.
Crypt of Colonia Güell
Considered a laboratory of architectural forms, this unfinished crypt is the structural and symbolic prototype of the Sagrada Familia. There, Gaudí experimented with complex geometries and advanced construction techniques that he later employed.
Güell Cellars
This winery complex combines functionality and aesthetics with a highly expressive formal language, reflecting Gaudí’s ability to adapt to industrial-style architecture.
Park Güell
Conceived as a garden city, this dreamlike space is an icon of Catalan Modernism and one of Barcelona’s most visited sites. Gaudí merges architecture, landscape, and Christian symbolism in a masterpiece inviting contemplation and strolls with the sea on the horizon. Did you know Güell and Gaudí lived as neighbors for many years in Park Güell itself? Experiencing Park Güell firsthand is truly memorable.
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Influence of Eusebi Güell on Gaudí’s career
Eusebi Güell’s support was decisive for Antoni Gaudí to unleash the full force of his creative genius. Their relationship was not merely professional but a synergy based on mutual admiration, respect, trust, and a shared vision of art, religion, and society.
Güell, a prominent member of the Catalan industrial and cultural bourgeoisie, understood from the start that Gaudí was no conventional architect. He offered more than commissions: he offered freedom. Financial freedom, by imposing no budgetary constraints on his imagination. And artistic freedom, by trusting his radical, novel ideas. This combination was the perfect breeding ground for the architectural innovation Gaudí displayed in projects like Palau Güell, the Crypt of Colonia Güell, and the iconic Park Güell.
Güell’s impact on Gaudí’s career goes beyond the tangible. He was the first to see a visionary in Gaudí when others considered him eccentric. Without Eusebi Güell, one wonders if we would admire Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia today. Just as centuries ago, without Lorenzo de’ Medici’s patronage, we wouldn’t have celebrated Renaissance painters like Botticelli, Michelangelo, or Leonardo da Vinci in Florence.
Eusebi Güell was, ultimately, much more than a patron: he was the catalyst for one of the most singular careers in architectural history. And, at the same time, thanks to Gaudí, the Güell name has become synonymous with culture and progress.