Barcelona artist Joan Bueno, 93, has completed a 17-metre mural at BesArt, the open-air urban art museum on the Besòs riverbanks. The work centres on the Sagrada Família and the people around it, placing a familiar city landmark alongside scenes of local life.
Bueno, often described as the last street painter, has spent more than half a century documenting Barcelona’s streets, squares, buildings and daily life. His drawings form a visual record of the city’s social and urban change, and this latest mural adds to that long-running archive.
The piece is part of the BesArt, The River Museum project, which uses walls along 18 kilometres of the Besòs river, with nearly five million square metres of artistic surface in the Barcelona metropolitan area. In this composition, Bueno took the Sagrada Família as his starting point, but chose to show real neighbours playing chess or dominoes in the square rather than abstract figures.
Born in Barcelona in 1932, Bueno studied drafting at the Escola del Treball before continuing his education in advertising and graphic design at Saint Martin's School of Art in London. After military service, he hitchhiked to London, where he combined his studies with casual jobs, including washing dishes. He later travelled to Iceland, an experience that helped shape the fast drawing technique he still uses today.
That method is direct and spare. Bueno works with Chinese ink, reeds he collects near Esplugues church and simple paper, creating complex perspectives without rulers or measuring tools. He has said, “When I paint, there seems to be an angel helping me,” and added, “Art is a therapy, a medicine that prolongs my life.”
His work has also documented places and events beyond the mural itself, from the old Colmado Quílez to student demonstrations and political mobilisations outside the Parliament. He has also produced extensive graphic records of Baix Llobregat municipalities, with nearly 2,000 drawings of towns, farmhouses and heritage elements across the region. For more Catalonia news, see our news coverage.
José Félix Bentz, president of the Real Centro Artístico de Barcelona, said Bueno’s presence at BesArt is a deserved recognition. Rafael Tirado, a photographer, audiovisual producer and friend of the artist since 1978, said Bueno still reads the newspaper every morning, follows the city’s news and goes out to draw what interests him. Tirado also said Bueno is working on twelve prints dedicated to the Sagrada Família and the parish of Sant Agustí.
