Istanbul : Weekend around Geneva : Paris and Nîmes : Barcelona and Cádiz : Seville : Granada : Córdoba : Mérida and Cáceres : Salamanca, Avila & Segovia : Madrid & Valencia : Art in Paris
Fundació Joan Miró
Website: https://www.fmirobcn.org/en/
This museum of Joan Miró’s work is on Montjuic in Barcelona. The low white building with an interesting roofline was purpose built. I think one either likes this artist’s work or one does not see the point of it. It is not easily accessible. I must confess to liking the colours and design and don’t often grasp the meaning. I understand he was trying to find a universal way of communicating, away from the personal and individual.
He also designed large woollen tapestries, where texture and colour make an impact. His sculptures are situated both inside the museum and on the roof.
Museo Nacional de Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
Website: https://www.museoreinasofia.es/
This is the first of the three great museums I visited in Madrid. It has a great collection of primarily Spanish artists’ works from approximately 1900 till mid century. The section on Cubism is particularly strong with many of Juan Gris’ works. Picasso and Dali are also well represented and it is fun to see early works which do not resemble their later more famous paintings. Picasso’s Guernica is housed here and there is an entire gallery of studies he made of weeping women for it. The collection extends beyond paintings to photographs (especially from the Civil War) and film.
Museo Nacional del Prado
Website: https://www.museodelprado.es/en
This, like the Louvre in Paris, is one of the world’s great art museums and its collection is extensive, but it does not contain modern works. Neither does it allow one to take photographs. I started my viewing in the room containing several El Greco paintings. There are not many of his works outside Spain and I enjoyed seeing these.
In rooms nearby there were several Goya portraits (c. 1780-1799) which I really liked. Later I was to see the dark, grotesque paintings retrieved from the walls of the house he lived it. It is difficult to believe that the same artist painted them and the shrewd, sympathetic portraits. I also saw the 2 famous reclining majas; the one nude, the other clothed, painted by him. I saw and admired Velázquez masterpiece, La Meninas (1656), and other paintings of his. I did not realize that about 150 years separate the 2 artists.
I am not a fan of Ruben’s works, but rather liked the famous Three Graces. They are such ordinary, plump women having a gossip. I almost missed the famous Hieronymous Bosch painting, The Garden of earthly delights. It is in a room surrounded by other works by this artist. (I cannot help feeling that Salvador Dali visited).
These are the highlights I remember, but I enjoyed many other paintings in the collection.
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisz
Website: https://www.museothyssen.org/en
This museum contains the collections amassed by 3 individuals; Baron Heinrich Thyssen- Bornemisza, his son, Hans Heinrich and his son’s wife, Carmen. Altogether it is an amazing collection and anyone wanting to know more about the history should consult the website. In terms of the periods covered, it is the most comprehensive of all the museums visited on this trip. Paintings range from 14th century works till 20th century. I am not sure if the collection is still being added to in the 21st century.
It is situated not far from the Prado and completes the trio of great art museums of Madrid.
Enjoy the gallery below. Click on a photo to enlarge and open the Gallery. (FM= Fondacion Miro, RS = Reina Sofia, MP= Prado, TB= Thyssen-Bornemisza.)
2025 Trip: Art in Spain Gallery
