Nouveau Medal

Can Prunera Art Gallery Soller

First, there is no sign to the museum, which opened one year ago with big celebrations. But of course, everybody knows the Art Nouveau building in the town of Sóller. “What is special is, that we have not changed anything. The house still has the same furniture, the same lamps, same kitchen, same beds, and the same display case,” says famous Mallorcan publisher Pedro Serra, declared art lover and the driving force behind the acquisition and renovation of the building.

Without him, the native Solleric, there would be no museum. Because he and his foundation “El Tren de l’Art” (“The art train”) made sure not only to maintain the house but also to fill it with modern art. Therefore art lovers not only experience a journey through contemporary art, but also a journey through the era of Art Nouveau, which is alive inside the house. The atmosphere makes you tempted to wait for the host´s arrival and smoke a cigar with him in the library.

The history of the museum is briefly told. In 1998, a city councilor from Sóller suggested to Pedro Serra, the famous son of the city, to purchase the house. The then owner, Sebastia Puig Magraner, preferred to sell to a Mallorcan and thus have the guarantee that his house would be preserved. The Magraner family emigrated to France in the 19th century and earned a fortune there with the import of citrus fruits from Sóller. “The history of Sóller is a story of the emigrants of the place,” says Pedro Serra. Without them, so the entrepreneur, would have been no riches. The Magraner clan decided to build Can Prunera in 1909 in the the city centre in today’s Carrer de la Lluna.

For the almost 82-year-old Serra a childhood dream came true with the purchase and restoration of the house.

“It was always the nicest house in town,” he says. Not only that: he was able to combine the purchase of the house with his passion for art. “I inherited it from my paternal grandfather,” he says. He was personal physician to many Impressionists who came from Catalonia to Mallorca for painting, such as Joaquín Mir or Santiago Rossinyol. They painted on the north coast of the island. “Always on Sunday they eventually met in Sóller, where my grandfather was the doctor. Now and then they gave him a painting. I always saw new pictures when I visited my grandfather. “

And he doesn´t regret his involvement when he sees how much the art lovers appreciate the new museum. “We had in May 700-800 visitors per week, which is very good.” He regrets nothing, even if the restoration brought many problems. The original cost estimate of €2 million for the conversion finally ended up costing the double, because engineers found that the Vigas, the roof struture, had been attacked by the white ant – a pest that forced the workers around Mallorcan Pepe Pardó to replace all Vigas. It made the restoration not only expensive but also delayed the completion by as much as two years. But it was worth it: “The most beautiful detail for the engineers of the state government after the work: there´s no Art Nouveau building in Spain rebuilt as accurately as Can Prunera. And just as it is.”

Serra, awarded a few weeks ago by the state government with the gold medal for his cultural engagement, smiles when it comes to the question of funding. “I really was given every possible assistance, but regarding money I have not seen one euro.” A little dig at the town of Sóller, which mainly benefits from the museum.

Part of the exhibition on the ground floor is dedicated to Joan Miró, one of Pedro Serra’s favorite painters.

“He lived for 40 years on Mallorca, although a native of Barcelona, he felt like a Mallorcan,” says the publisher. In his office at the publishing house of Ultima Hora also hang some works by Miró. In addition to the living room on the ground floor there´s a collection of antique wax dolls dating from the 19th Century. However, the foreign visitors here miss an explanatory plaque. All signs on the ground floor are also in Catalan. This lack is supposed to be filled soon. At least the exhibition catalog will be edited in German and English. “It´s being printed currently,” Pedro Serra assures.

The explanations of the exhibition are already written in six languages (English, German, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, French) in the former kitchen in the basement. The initiative is a personal bet of Pedro Serra, because he wanted to include Juli Ramis in Can Prunera.

“He is one of the most complete artists I know,” he says. Part of his personal collection is situated on the 2nd Floor, directly under the roof´s renewed striving. Works of Kandinsky, Picasso, Warhol can be seen here, aside with works from Barceló and star architect Santiago Calatrava. In a separate room there´s projection of the local Soller artist Francesca Martí.

For Serra the promotion of the homeborn artists is an affair of the heart. The island on which Miró and many other artists live, needed an animated museum culture: “A little more love for art would do well on the island. I still have a big goal: Giving back Palma´s Es Baluard Museum the importance it deserves.” Knowing Pedro Serra this will surely come to pass in the now too distant future.

About the Author

Dr. Helen Cummins is the Editor of abcMallorca Magazine a high quality guide to mallorca printed in three languages including informative Articles about Mallorca, up to date Events Guide and a Business Directory.

You can visit the abcMallorca website to read the original article about Can Prunera Art Gallery in Soller or related articles about Major Attractions in Mallorca.

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