The Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc, founded in 1893, is one of the most outstanding associations of artists and lovers of art and culture in Barcelona. With more than 115 years of history, the institution has welcomed important Catalan artists and intellectuals, including Alexander Riquer, Antoni Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Joan Miró. The link between Sant Lluc and several of the main representatives of the modernist generation as well as the avant-garde has allowed the institution to become a leading reference within the cultural and artistic panorama of the country.

The artistic production of Sant Lluc is carried out within the drawing, notes and fixed pose studios, as well as within the engraving, photography and sculpture workshops where the different aesthetic possibilities of the figure and the model are studied. But, together with these spaces, exhibitions, debates and courses expand the offer of Sant Lluc as a center for artistic practice.

In 2009 Sant Lluc inaugurated its new headquarters in the Palau Mercader, a 16th century building located in the historic center of the city. The change of location gave way to a new phase of the institution aimed at a greater cultural projection on the city and an enriching exchange with the society of our time. Drawing, which has always been at the center of Sant Lluc's activities, thus emerges again as the main axis of all his artistic creation.