The Reial Cercle Artístic was preparing to celebrate a historic day in 1910, and everything had been organized with the greatest care: inaugurating its new headquarters. It was not new, although of course the extreme quality of the place was.
The entity had been founded in 1881. Despite its rather recent nature, quite a few locations had followed one another: Plaza Catalunya (1887); Comtal, 37 (1893); Santa Anna, 2 (1895); Corts Catalanes, 313, old numbering (1904) and Paseo de Gràcia, 37 (1905).
It was obvious and manifest that having managed to rent the noble floor of the Lleó i Morera house, designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner in 1906, represented an enormous luxury.
And the first occupant had been the important photographer Pau Audouard. But in this case one had to appreciate the lavish and spectacular decoration that had been spread everywhere under the direction of the renowned artist Gaspar Homar and his team of preeminent artists and craftsmen.
On Sunday, May 22, 1910, the intense and exciting event took place to celebrate the inauguration of the ground floor and ground floor. Despite the small space, the ceremony was enhanced with the female and male voices of the Orfeó Barcelonès, a historical entity created in 1853 and which rivaled the Cors Clavé, even in its marked political commitment.
The Reial Cercle Artístic not only provided artistic education in its various specialties. It also offered the possibility of practicing other activities, such as music theory classes. And of course there was no shortage of concerts, dances and parlor games. Billiards was one of the most appreciated at that time, being offered even in cafes. There were, of course, no shortage of chess boards and card games, such as bridge, manilla or ombre.
And soon a room was set up for the game of roulette. It was not mentioned in the book of minutes, as it was only tolerated, since a portion of the income was allocated to collaborating in charitable works.
In 1914 he had to leave that headquarters due to a financial dispute with the owner. Until 1956 he did not have another space of equal category: the Pignatelli palace at Arcs, 5, where he remains and we hope it will be for a long time.
