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The Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic was created in 1942 by Teresa Amatller (1873-1960) to support art historical research from mediaeval to modern times. Modelled after the Fick Art Reference Library by its first director, Josep Gudiol (1904-1985), it provides scholars and students with a photo archive of over 360.000 negatives (including those made by Arxiu Mas between 1900 and 1941) plus some 100.000 digital images and a specialized library with more than 30.000 titles.
It is part of a private foundation which also has the aim of preserving the house built by the father of the founder, Antoni Amatller (1851-1910), one of the leading chocolate makers in Spain in his times, a widely travelled amateur photographer and art collector. The casa Amatller, built in 1898-1900 under the direction of architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, is one of the most relevant art nouveau buildings of Barcelona, with the original furniture and decoration, including the collection of some 750 glass pieces covering more than 3.000 years of its history.
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