This book, which studies Barcelona’s world of galleries, was born of a commission from the Associació Art Barcelona (Art Barcelona Association) to celebrate the XX anniversary of this group’s foundation. Apart from constituting one of the few works to analyze the history of our country’s galleries, it is also a practical document to discover the current exhibition spaces that can be visited.  The Gallery World in Barcelona is a study in three parts. The first two serve as an introduction and offer a reflection on significant episodes that constitute the background and points of reference for our contemporary framework. The first chapter, Discovering Art 1877-1936, reviews the origins and formation of the gallery institution in Catalonia, taking the Salón Parés (1877-1925) as its starting point. The second chapter, Defending Art 1939-1970, analyses the period stretching from the post-war era to the end of the seventies, a cycle that would see the consolidation of both art platforms and a public for contemporary art. And finally, the last and longest chapter, Spreading Art 1970-2012, is dedicated to recent times, a moment of particular vitality in which the art market of our city has just come together.  This is one of the first overviews to be written on the world of galleries in Spain. Up to now, we had seen individual studies of various art salons, but no overviews or essays attempting to put together a more global account.  The volume includes numerous archive images and previously unpublished materials that illustrate this fascinating journey through the history of the gallery world in the Catalonian capital.