|
|
ART
Prado Musseum
Prado Museum and The Cason del Buen Retiro
The Prado Museum contains the world's finest collection of Spanish paintings,
including masterpieces by El Greco, Velázquez, Goya. Vying for
attention are the great artist of Spain's Golden Age (Siglo de Oro) Ribera,
Zurbarán and Murilo. The Flemish School is represented by no less
than Van der Weyden and Hieronymus Bosch, among others. Other rooms are
given over to Italian art, and indeed the gallery boasts the most complete
collection of Titian and artists of the Venetian School under one roof.
The German, French and English words on display, though fewer in number,
are equally superb examples of their kind.
Since its establishment, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum has been the perfect
foil for the Prado: what is absent in the latter tends to be splendidly
present in the former. Unlike the Prado, with its single masterpiece of
the period, Fra Angelico's Annunciation, the Thyssen Bornemisza is well
endowed with italian Primitives. There are also excellent examples of
German Renaissance and Dutch 17th-century painting (of which the Prado
has only a few) and 19th-century American painting, virtually non-existent
elsewhere in Spain. From the first stirrings of modern art, as seen in
Impressionism, up through the harsher years of German Expressionism and
Russian Constructivism, to experiments with Geometric Abstraction and
the tongue-in-cheek irreverence of Pop Art... all are represented in this
wide-ranging retrospective that is the Thyssen Collection. Leaving the
other two galleries behind, our last call brings us to one of the most
famous and, in its time, controversial masterpieces of this century Picasso's
Guernica, now hanging in the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. The permanent
collection here is primarily made up of Spanish painting and sculpture:
Picasso, Gris, Miró, Dalí, Chillida and Tápies, along
with newer contemporaries.
Incredible as it may seem, works by figures such as El Greco, Ribera,
Zurbarán, Velánzquez, Murillo, Goya, Van der Weyden, Hieronymus
Bosch, Titian and Rubens form only part of the Prado Museum's collection,
considered by many to be one of the richest in the world for the quality
and variety of its paintings.
Insede, Alvarez Cubero's statue of Isabel de Braganza, wife of Ferdinand
VII, pays tribute to the museum's original patron, and in Bernardo López'
s portrait of her (Casón del Buen Retiro), she is depicted, surrounded
by architectural plans, pointing to the building. The present-day museum
was originally intended by Charles III and his architect, Juan de Villanueva,
to serve as the Museum of Natural History and Academy of Science (1785).
It was the Queen's energy and patronage that lay behind the initiative
to convert the edifice into an art gallery, yet she died before its official
inauguration as the Royal Museum of Painting and Sculpture in 1819.
The Spanish monarchs, especially Charles V, Philip II and Philip IV, were
avid art collectors. Indeed, the first works exhibited in the museum came
from the Royal Collections of the 16th-19th centuries. In 1870, the Trinidad
Museum collection was transferred to the Prado, with subsequent donationsand
acquisitions enormously enriching a collection which today includes 11th
to 19th-century paintings, sculpture (both classical and modern), drawings,
and the decorative arts. Concentrated in the original building designed
by Villanueva, is the world's most complete collection of Spanish painting,
spanning the period from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The 19th-century
paintings and sculptures, on the other hand, are exhibited across the
way in the Prado Museum annexe, the Casón del Buen Retiro. The
earliest works provide the visitor with an invaluable introduction to
Spanish art before entering the heady realms of the El Greco, Velázquez
and Goya rooms. The gallery contains items exemplifying the Romanesque
period, such as the Frescoes of San Baudelio de Berlanga, from the province
of Soria, and the Frescoes of Santa Cruz de Maderuelo from the province
of Segovia. Exhibits from the Gothic period include Fernando Gallego's
Christ Giving His Blessing and St. Dominic of Silos Enthroned by Bartolomé
Bermejo, where-as Yáñez de la Almedina's St. Catherine brings
a touch of the Renaissance, and an air that is somewhat reminiscent of
Leonardo de Vinci.
Domenikos Theotocopolous, the Cretan-born painter who settled in Toledo
and became known as El Greco, reveals the influence of Michelangelo in
his work, The Trinity. The maturity of his canvas, The Adoration of the
Shepherds, condenses the mastery and the singular style of the artist:
spare, elongated figures, and the dramatic play of light and shade. Of
his portraits, dountless the most outstanding is, Gentleman with his Hand
on his Breast (El Caballero de la Mano en el Pecho). Historians look upon
the 17th century as Spain's Siglo de Oro or Golden Age, owing to the flourishing
of art and literature which marked the period. The Prado Museum houses
an ample collection of art from this time, with pride of place necessarily
going to Velázquez. Born in Seville, he came to Madrid in 1622,
and by the following year had already been appointed Court Painter by
Philip IV, a post he was to hold until his death. Of the more than 100
paintings by Velázquez, the Prado possesses 51 including his masterpieces:
The Maids of Honour (Las Meninas) and the Spinners (Las Hilanderas). These
are mature works in which, thanks to the artist's sheer mastery of his
craft, atmosphere is given a pivotal role in composition. The Forge of
Vulcan, The Lances or The Surrender of Breda and Christ Crucified are
only the forerunners of the veritable banquet on show, a collection covering
different periods and subjects, ranging from mythology, religion and history
to portraits and landscapes.
Other masters from the Siglo de Oro include Ribalta, who brought the chiaroscuro
style to Spain, Ribera (nicknamed "Il Spagnoletto"), whose early
work reveals the influence of Caravaggio, and the Seville School of Zurbarán
and Murillo, Goya, a genius who, like Velázquez, rose to international
renown, and who, again like Velázquez, became official Court Painter
(though in this case to Charles IV), is also represented at the Prado
in all his periods and facet. A cultured man by some accounts, he was,
perhaps more importantly, a man who frequented liberal circles and thus
became a steadfast and, at times, unflinching chronicler of the crucial
period of Spanish history in which he lived. His tremendous creative capacity
and constant evolution gave rise to a unique style which served to inspire
many an artist thereafter, the impressionists (e.g., Manet) and Expressionists
in particular.
In his tapestry cartoons for the Escorial,, Goya's style was gay and colourful
in his depiction of scenes of popular life in Madrid; The Parasolk, The
Flower Girls (Spring) and La Maja and the cloaked men. Yet his art evolved
continually and his brush had taken a very different turn when, as an
old and ailing man, he painted the so called Black Paintings on the walls
of his house on the Manzanares River, the "Quinta del Sordo",
such as Witches' Sabbath (Acholuria) or Saturn devouring one of his sons.
In his numerous portraits, the artist has slyly captured, not only the
personality of his subjects but also his personal feelings of warmth or
animosity toward tem. For instance, The Family of Charles IV and The Duke
nd Duchess of Osuna with their Children show special affection for the
children. Las Majas, clothed and nude, are perhaps his most famous words,
yet, while rumour had it that they depicted Goya's reputed mistress, the
Duchess of Alba, no amount of speculation has, to this day, managed to
uncover the true identity of the model.
The Second of May 1801 in Madrid: The Charge of the Mamelukes (as napoleon's
Egypcian troops were known) and, in the same vein, The Third of May 1801
in Madrid: The Executions on Príncipe Pío Hill, are landmarks
in the history of art, for the dramatic nature of the events which Goya
captured with such vividness.
Some of the gallery's prize exhibits are the work of Flemish artists:
The Descent from the Cross by Van der Weyden, is the very epitomy of 15th-century
Primitive, as are his Pietá and Virgin and Child. Canvases, such
as the Garden of Delights and the Hay Cart (called variously, the Hay
Wagon or Haywain), bear the singular weird quality that is the unmistakeable
hallmark of Hieronymus Bosch, known in Spain as El Bosco.
Charon Crossing the Styx stands out among the works of Patinier, said
to be the first artist to concertrate on land- and seascapes in his compositions.
Nearby, Thee Triumph of Death is a mature work and indisputable masterpiece
of Brueghel the Elder.
Rubens, the most representative of the 18th-century Flemish school, is
generously displayed, both in breadth and excellence, but to many his
The Three Graces will always rank first and foremost. The series of Van
Dycks, fine still lifes, floral words and landscapes, justify the Prado's
collection of Flemish art being classed as among the best in the word.
As for Italian masters, the Prado boasts The Annunciatin by Fra Angelico,
Botticelli's series, The Tale of Nastagio degli Honesti, Dead Christ Supported
by an Angel by Messina and Death off the Vigin by Mantegna, 16th-century
works include Raphael's Portrait off a Cardinal and The Holy Family with
the Lamb, as well as oils by Andrea del Sarto (Lucrezia di Baccio del
Fede, the Painter's Wife) and Correggio. The Prado's collection of Titian
and others of the Venetian school is outstanding and is rightly considered
the most valuable contained in any one art gallery. Paintings by Titian
include Charles v at Mühlberg, The Empress Isabel of Portugal, Danaë
Receiv ingg the Shower of Gold, The Bacchanal, Venus and Adonis and Sel-Portrait.
The works of Tintoretto include Jesus Washing the Disciples' Feet, and
those of Veronese, Venus and Adonis and Moses Rescued from he Waters of
the Nile. From the Naples school, comes Solomno's Dream by Giordano, and
from the 18th century, The Immaculate Conception by the Baroque colourist,
Tiepolo.
There is an interesting collection of French painting, which includes
Parnassus by Poussin, Claude Lorrainde's, Landscape with the embarkation
of SantaPaula romana at Ostia and Gathering in a Park by Watteau as well
as other 17th and 18th-century works. A recent addition is The Panpipe
Player by De la Tour. Still lifes, landscapes and, above all, Rembrandt's
masterpiece, Artemisa, represent Dutch art which, by the end of the 16th
century, had developed its own style and asserted itself as distinct from
Flemish art.
Cranach, Dürer's panels f Adam and Eve, his Self-portrait and a series
of portraits by Mengs, form the core of the collection of German masters,
Mengs. Court Painter to Charles III, was the first to suggest to the King
the creation of a gallery open to the public. His too is the delicate
portrait of María Lisa de Parma as Princess of Asturias. The 18th
and 19th centuries are present in the eminent company of Gainsborough,m
Reynolds, Romney an Lawrence.
Some 7oo sculptures, a collection begun at the behest of Philip II, run
from antiquity (Sumerian, Egyptian, Ancient and Classical Greek, and Roman)
to the 19th century, and serve as a splendid complement to the Prado's
feast of paintings.
Classical sculpture includes important pieces, such as the Venus of Madrid
and Venus with a Shell. The collection acquired by Philip V from Queen
Chistine of Sweden, the so-called San Ildefonso Group, is the most valuable
in the museum. The most note-worthy Renaissance pieces are the bronzes
by Leone Leoni and his son, Pompeo Leoni: Emperor Charles V and Fury and
the Empress Isabella.
The Treasure of the Dauphin, which came down to Philip V from Louis XIV,
contains opulent crystal and silverware, jewellery, coins, medals, armour
and other assorted pieces, such as the exquisite onyx salt cellar supported
by a gold mermaid. Furniture, an enamelwork and gold and silverwork are
further items gracing the Prado's collection of decorative art.
EL CASÓN DEL BUEN RETIRO
The Casón del Buen Retiro was originally designed as the ballroom
to the palace built by Philip IV. The frescoes in the grand hall were
painted by Luca Giordano. The collection includes some magnificent portraits
by Vicente López, such as María Cristina de Borbón,
Isabel de Braganza and Ferdinand VII, although perhaps the best work is
that of Goya, which overlooks the hall. Also noteworthy is The Death of
Viriatus by José de Madrazo, and Las Presidentas by Eugenio Lucas,
similar to the Majas by Goya. Alenza painted La Azofaifa, and Esquivel,
the famous Contemporary Poets.
Reputedly one the ost important portraits of the entire 19th century,
The Countess of Vilches by Federico de Madrazo, plus Rosales' most famous
work, Isabella dictating her Will, and Fortun's The Children of the Painter
in the Japanese Hall, are all hanging in the Casón. Here to is
one of Sorolla's first paintings, They Still Say that Fish is Expensive,
as well as his unforgettably nostalgic, Children on the Beach.
The landscapes of Carlos Haes include The Picos de Europa. Other fine
examples of the genre are Winter Landscape by Beruete, The Vine by Regoyos,
Aranjuez Garden by Rusiñol, Moguda Waters by Joaquín Mir
and Houses of Segovia by Zuloaga.
General Information:
PRADO MUSEUM AND THE CASON DEL BUEN RETIRO
ADDRESS
Paseo del Prado, s/n. 28014 Madrid.
Tel.: (91) 330 29 00 - (91) 330 28 00
Fax: (91) 330 28 59
OPENING TIMES
Tuesday to Saturday: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sundays and public holidays.
9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Closed Mondays.
TICKETS
3,01 euros general public
1,5 euros. Students
Free entrance: Saturdays 2:30 p.m., on wards, and Sundays,. For visitors
over the age of 65, and under 18.
Bono arte: 1.050 ptas (6,31 euros). It can be bought at either one of
the three Museums; it can be used during one year, one visit to each of
them.
SCHOOL AND GROUP VISITS
Book in advance.
Tuesday to Saturday: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sundays and public holiday: 9 a.m.
- 2 p.m.
HANDICAPPED VISITORS
Accesses and facilities : ramps and wheel chairs.
Ground floor, Goya door.
BOOKSHOP - OPENING TIMES
Tuesday to Saturday:
9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sundays and public holidays:
9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Ground floor.
SHOP - OPENING TIMES
Same as for bookshop
Location: Ground floor
PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO
Permits: apply to the Management,
(91) 330 28 94
CAFETERIA
Tuesday to Saturday: 9:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sundays and public holidays: 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: Basement
RESTAURANT
Same as the cafeteria.
Location: Basement
OTHER SERVICES
Cloakroom, public telephone, medical assistance, information, lost property
office, complaints and suggestions.
HOW TO GET THERE
Metro: Banco de España, Atocha
Bus: 9,14, 19, 27, 37, 45
RENFE (train): Atocha Station.
Public parking: Plaza de las Cortes.
Reina Sofia Musseum, Madrid
Centro de Arte Reina Sofía National Museum
Standing at the southernmost end of the Avenue of Art is the art gallery
which proudly bears the name of the present-day Queen of Spain: the Centro
de Arte Reina Sofía National Museum. Although the permanent collection
was inaugurated by the King and Queen on 10th September 1992, it had actually
started life in 1986 as a centre primarily intended to act as a venue
for temporary exhibitions.
Owing to its unique characteristics and multiple activities, the Reina
Sofía is more than a gallery. While attracting enthusiasts of contemporary
painting and sculpture of al ages, it has nonetheless become Madrid's
most popular gallery among youngsters, It seeks to cater to this public
through educational programmes designed to foster creativity and interest
in art among children. The section of the gallery housing its permanent
collection is hung with masterpieces of early 20th-century Spanish avant-garde,
with Picasso, Miró and Dalí at the fore. In addition, the
gallery puts on a large number of temporary exhibitions, some devoted
to leading artist who have already received critical acclaim, others to
up-and-coming creators who have either given signs of promise or provoked
controversy due to the radical nature of their work. For those weary of
gallery gazing, relaxing alternatives include the latest in international
video art and film, avant-garde musical compositions, art books and publications
from all over the world, or perhaps just a quiet stroll through the inner
patio.
The Reina Sofia is situated at one of Madrid's busiest hubs, the Glorieta
de Carlos V ("Glorieta" meaning a roundabout or a London-style
Circus), commonly known as "Atocha". It is housed in one of
the city's most historic buildings; the erstwhile General Hospital. The
original, late 18th-century building was left unfinished by Francisco
Sabatini, the favourite architect of Charles III, a king considered by
the inhabitants of Madrid (Madrileños) to have been their "best
mayor".
The restoration of the building, begun under the direction of Antonio
Fernández Alba, has respected the plans of the period and the overall
architectural desing. Nonetheless Fernández Alba thoroughly renovated
the structure so as to equip it with all the features demanded of a first-rate,
technologically up-to-date museum.
On entering the plaza where the main entrance to the museum is located,
the first thing that strikes the visitor are the two tall, transparent
towers housing the building's elevators. The structures were designed
by José Luis Iñíguez de Onzoña and Antonio
Vázquez de Castro, in collaboration with British architect, Ian
Ritchie. Rapidly rising above the colourful mosaic of the old quarter's
rooftops, the visitor is transported to the enormous light-filled expanse
of the centre's exhibition rooms. The Reina Sofía s, in fact, one
of the world's largest art galleries, with 36.701 square metres of useable
surface area, a third of which is allocated to exhibition space.
The anchor and heart of the gallery's activities is, logically, its permanent
collection. The second floor is given over to a careful selection of works
from a collection which contains over 10.000 items, all told. Place of
honour has been accorded to Picasso's famous Guernica, owing to its historical
and artistic importance, a symbol not only of civil liberties for several
generations of Spaniards, but also, since its return to the country, of
a new period of co-existence, Room 7 had to be specially altered and readied
before the painting could be moved from its former home, the Casón
del Buen Retiro. Accompanying it are the Malaga-born artist's preparatory
sketches, along with contemporary works by Alberto Sánchez, Salvador
Dalí and Le Corbusier.
The content and structure of the permanent collection highlights the close
ties between 20th-century art in Spain and avant-garde movements abroad.
Early contact between Spanish artists and Europe is to be seen in the
paintings of artists, such as Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa, Isidre Nonell,
Ignacio Zuloaga, José Gutiérrez Solana or Francisco Rubio.
In their wake came the Cubist and Surrealist movements, with Picasso,
Miró, Dalí, Juán Gris, Julio González, María
Blanchard, Oscar Domínguez and the like European influence also
visible in the work of the so-called Paría School: Vázquez
Díaz, Pancho Cossío, Alfonso Pérez de León,
among other. Space is like-wise afforded to alternative currents which
flowered alongside the avant-garde movements, e.g., Mediterranean Classicism
as represented by Joaquín Sunyer and Manolo Hugué, and New
Objectivity, through the eyes of José Velasco and José Togores.
From the period preceding the Civil War, the gallery offers examples of
figurative work and the Realism lf Antonio López Torres and Daniel
González Lastly, the collection documents the resurgence of avant-garde
ideas in the 40s and the importance of abstract trends during the 50s
and 60s . It includes the informalist woks of the Grupo El Paso, Antoni
Tàpies (the leading exponent of Arte Povera in Spain) and the abstract
expressionism of Eduardo Chillida, as well as the geometric constructivist
works of Equipo 57, led by Pablo Palazuelo. However, the gallery-goer
is by no means confined to an academic and rather passive review of the
history of art in the 20th century; demands of modern art and a generalized
desire for greater participation have given birth to a series of so-called
"Proposals", whereby the viewer is freed from such a purely
chronological approach. By taking leading figures in Spanish art in recent
years (Luis Gordillo, Eduardo Arroyo, Equipo Crónica, Miguel Navarro,
Susana Solano) and contrasting them against others active on the international
art scene (Lucio Fontana, Barnett Newman, Ellsworth Kelly, Bruce Nauman,
Dan Flavin), the curators have set themselves the dual goal of forcing
the viewer to reflect on the diversity at work in today's art world and
ensuring continued expansion of the gallery's core collection.
In short, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía National Museum offers
the visitor the privilege of reviewing the history of art in recent times,
while simultaneously experiencing the dynamic of a collection in evolution…
a 20th -century gallery for the 21st century.
CENTRO DE ARTE REINA SOFIA NATIONAL MUSEUM
ADDRESS
Santa Isabel, 52. 28102 Madrid.
Tel: (91) 467 50 62 .
Fax: (91)467 31 63
OPENING TIMES
Monday to Saturday: 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sundays and public holidays: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Closed Tuesdays.
TICKETS
3,01 euros. General public
1,5 euros. Students
Free entrance :Saturdays 2:30 p.m. Onwards, and Sundays. For visitors
over The age of 65, and under 18.
SCHOOL AND GROUP VISITS
Information and reservations: (91) 527 72 05
Free guided visits for general public: Monday & Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Saturdays at 11 a.m.
HANDICAPPED VISITORS
The museum provides special accesses For the handicapped
GOOKSHOP - OPPENING TIMES
Same as museum. Specialized in art, catalogues and educational guides.
SHOP - OPENING TIMES
Same as for museum
Objects on sale: designer objects, decorations, jewellery, stationery,
etc.
PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO
The taking of photographs and videos is Ot allowed inside the museum
CAFETERIA - OPENING TIMES
Same as for museum.
RESTAURANT
1 p.m. - 4 p.m., except Tuesday and Sunday.
OTHER SERVICES
Cloakroom, public telephone, medical assistance, information, lost property
office, complaints and suggestins, 4B automatic teller.
HOW TO GET THERE
Metro:
Atocha (line 1 )
Bus: 6,10,14,18,19,26,27,32,36,37,41,45,47,55,57,59,68,86,119, Circular.
RENFE (train): Atocha Station.
Thyssen Bornemisza Museum
Medieval pieces bought in the 1920s were the modest beginnings
of a collection that Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza was to put
together over a lifetime. In the 1960s, his son, the current Baron, added
to the collection with the acquisition of modern works, thereby making
it a av eritable showcase of the history of Western art, Since 1992, Spain
has played host to the more than 800 items that go to make up this collection;
paintings, sculptures, carvings, tapestries as ell as gold and silverware.
Apart from the priceless nature of many of the items (over 50 paintings
being considered masterpieces), the collection serves as the ideal complement
to the classical paintings of the Prado on the one hand, and the modern
and contemporary art of the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía on the other.
The Thyssen's strengths are the Achilles' heel of the other two galleries,
namely, Italian and Flemish Primitives, German Renaissance, 17th century
American painting, Impressionism, German Expressionism, Russian Constructivism,
Geometric Abstraction and Pop Art.
The museum is housed in what was the Duke of Villahermosa's Palace (and
thus still bears the family name), a late 18th-century building, refurbished
in the early part of the 19th century by López Aguado, a Neo-Classical
architect and disciple of Villanueva. The latest renovation of the building,
purpose-desingned as the new home for the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection,
was carried out by Rafael Moneo, a project for which he received the Madrid
City Council's VII Town-planning, Architecture and Public Works Award
in 1992. the Italian Primitives, the seed from which the collection flowered,
still figure among the most important works on show: Madonna and Child,
by the Master of the Magdalen (late 13th century), and Christ and the
Samaritan Woman, by Duccion di Buoninsegna.
From the bush of Jan Val Eyck, the famed Flemish master of the early northern
renaissance and one of the first to work in oils rather than egtempera
technique, comes the Diptych of the Annunciation, the most important word
of its kind in the collection, The finest work of the late Gothic period
is the Assumption of the virgin by Johann Koerbecke, a painting which
heralds the passage from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, a period
represented by Bramantino's Ressurrected Christ.
A fascinating aspect of the collection is the portrait-work, which includes
exceptional items such a as the late 15th-century piece, Giovanna Tornabuoni,
by Ghirlandaio. Examples of German Renaissance and an excellent collection
of scenes from everyday life, interiors and landscapes by 17th-century
Duthch painters (Family Froup in a Landscape by Hals, for instance) are
some of the other great attractions to be seen in this gallery. St. Catherine
of Alexandria, a canvas by the young Caravaggio, belongs to the early
Baroque period, while Bernini's sculpture, st. Sebastian, shows all the
exuberance of the Baroque, French Classicism, Spain's Golden Age and 17thcentury
Flemish painting (such as Venus and Cupid) are all represented. Furthermore,
in addition to examples of Rococo and the Neo-Classical counter reaction,
the collection devotes an entire section to 19th-century American painting,
virtually unknown on this side of the Atlantic.
Of the Europeans, Goya better then any other artist, illustrates the progression
of styles from the Enlightenment onwards, as is eloquently brought out
by his Portrait.
Of Asensio Julia and the "black painting", Tío Paquete.
Outstanding among the romantic paintings is Constable's The Lock, a tribute
to nature and an introduction to the Realist and impressionist movements.
Not only are the great impressionist-Manet, Monet and Renoir among other-
in evidence, but the paintings of Gauguin, Degas, Van Gogh and Toulouse
Lautrec attest to the importance of the Post-Impressionist movement in
the ever-changing history of art, with Cézanne, arguably the one
member of this select group who most influenced 20th-century painting,
paving the way for the Cubism of Braque and Picasso.
Expressionism is yet another forte of the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection:
Schmidt-Rottluff, Hecckel and, most importantly Kirhn er, are well worth
seeing.
While the works of the avant-garde movements show strong similarities,
this is due to stylistic affinities rather than sequence in time: Picasso's
Man with a Clarinet, a landmark in Cubism; New York City, New York, by
Mondrian, pioneering the rigorous reduction of artistic language to its
physical elements; Russian Constructivism, demanding that the work ideally
represent nothing. The juxtaposition of all theses styles allows the viewer
to trace the evolution of modern art. In this connection, see also Harlequin
with Mirror by Picasso in his classical period, Catalan peasant with Guitar
by the surrealist Miró, and Painting with three Spots by the abstract
artist, Kandinsky.
After World War II, the epicentre of modern art shifted to New York. Two
of the most representative paintings of American post-war painting are
Gren on Purple, by Rothko, and Brown and Silver I, by Pollock.
Predominant though it might have been, Pop Art was by no means the only
trend being explored in the 60s.
Surrealism is based on spontaneous associations of images, as shown by
Dalís's, Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate
a Second after Waking. Magritte, founder of Berlian Surrealism, bases
his paintings on conceptual paradoxes.
Figurative painting is yet an other of the friends that has left its mark
on this century., Until his death in 1967, the most important Realist
at work was Hopper, whose works, hotel Room, Girl at Sewing Machine and
Martha McKeen by Wellfleet, now form part of the collection.
As for post-war use of figuration (termed New Humanism in the USA), the
gallery exhibits the new realism of Lucian Feud and Portrait of George
Dyer in a Mirror by the self-taught Francis Bacon, whose tortured images
are, in part, a legacy of his experiences in London during the blitz.
Pop art, with its garish, blown-up, ready-made images lifted from advertising,
comic strips and the mass media, rounds off the collection. Some off the
most representative works are Express by Rauschenberg and Woman in the
Bath by Lichtenstein
General Information:
THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA MUSEUM
ADDRESS
Paseo del Prado, 8.
Palacio de Villahermosa . 28014 Madrid.
Tel.: (91) 369 01 51 (Museum)
Fax: (91) 420 27 80
OPENING TIMES
Tuesday to Sunday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Closed Mondays
TICKETS
3,61 euros.
2,1 euros. For students and senior citizens
Fee to be revised
SCHOOL AND GROUP VISITS
Contact education department
Reservations: (91) 369 91 51
Group visits: Tuesday and Friday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sundays: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
HANDICAPPED VISITORS
The museum provides accesses and has special elevators, telephones and
rest-rooms.
BOOKSHOP - OPENING TIMES
Same as for museum
Objects on sale; postcards, poster,
T-shirts, icons, scarves, etc.
PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO
The taking of photographs and videos is not allowed inside the museum.
Permits: contact the Communication
Department for press photographs and the Conservations Deparmente for
book illustrations.
CAFETERIA-RESTAURANT
Open 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Location: first basement floor.
OTHER SERVICES
Cloakroom, public telephone, medical assistance, information, lost property
office, complaints and suggestions.
HOW TO GET THERE
Metro: Banco de España
Bus: 1,2,5,9,10,14,15,20,27,34,37,45,51,52,53,74,146, and 150
RENFE (train):
Atocha and Recoletos stations
Public parking: Plaza de las Cortes
|
|