BARCELONA.- In November 1932, the association known as ADLAN (Amics de l’Art Nou [Friends of New Art]) was born in Barcelona, gathering members of the Catalan petite bourgeoisie who championed a new cultural modernity. From then until June 1936, right before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, ADLAN organized over fifty events in an intense, heterogeneous program committed to all creative disciplines: painting, architecture, literature, chamber music, jazz, circus, film, dance, photography, etc. Their gatherings were private and held in alternative spaces, yet achieved a high public profile, partly due to their impact on the press of that time. Artists of the stature of Alexander Calder, Man Ray, Hans Arp, Remedios Varo, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí showed their work under the auspices of ADLAN. Linked by ties of friendship with its promoters and an honorary member since 1933, Joan Miró became the beacon and the standardbearer for the group, showing his most recent work on five occasions and collaborating actively in all the projects that were carried out over those years in which creative freedom was a primary objective.
