Gaudí

"This is a tale of murdered prostitutes and exhumed nuns, of still-born babies and live chickens cast in plaster, of patches of skin removed without anaesthetic from young men, of cholera, alcoholism, riot arson and death-by-tram, at the centre of which there is a celibate, vegetarian, devout man who liked lettuce dipped in milk for lunch 'Evening Standard'. For many Gaudi's unique architecture 'is' Barcelona. But little is known about the shadowy figure behind the swirling, vivid buildings that inspired the surrealists. Contemporary accounts describe an effete dandy who dressed like a tramp, a revolutionary patriot arrested in a pro-Catalan riot dressed like a tramp age 73, and a hermit who chose lifelong celibacy, rejected by the woman he loved. This masterly biography is the first to untangle his paradoxes, bringing the obsessions of both man and architect powerfully to life, against the changing backdrop of Catalonia. "A terrifically stirring biographyvan Hensbergen animates ideas with narrative drive. Buildings are his characters. " 'New York Times'. "'Gaudi' brings vividly alive for the first time the Catalan cultural and political background that is the key to understanding Gaudi" 'Sunday Telegraph'. "The most definitive work on the architect" 'Art Review'. "A soaring biography, meticulously researched, elegantly organised, fluidly and lucidly written" 'Chicago Tribune'. "At the end [of reading 'Gaudi' I felt like jumping on a jet to Barcelona, imagination at full stretch, rosary in hand" 'Guardian'.