Backstory Talks: Michael Eaude on Gaudí's life

The celebrated art nouveau architect Antoni Gaudí was a contradictory figure: deeply religious and politically right-wing, he nevertheless created revolutionary, lyrical buildings. Michael Eaude's book, Antoni Gaudí (2024), explores Gaudí’s life, work and influences, from Catalan nationalism to the Industrial Revolution. Eaude expertly guides readers through Gaudí’s great works – including the Sagrada Família, which attracts millions of tourists to Barcelona each year – and examines his monumental life, from the architect’s provincial upbringing in Reus to his time in Barcelona, where he became a dandy whose only attempt at marriage was rejected. Gaudí later suffered a nervous breakdown, became obsessively religious, and fused Gothic, Baroque and Orientalist architecture into his unique style.

Michael Eaude is a writer who has lived in Barcelona and Valencia for more than thirty years, and is the author of several books on Spanish and Catalan culture, including A People’s History of Catalonia (2022). He will…