Margie's Adventures: Madrid Museum visits

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The last few weekends I have gone into Madrid and visited museums. It takes about an hour on the bus to get into the city and then it’s a metro ride to where ever I want to go. As Madrid is huge, most of the time it has taken me about 25 minutes or so to get around to where I want to go.

There are three main museums in Madrid that are listed in the guidebooks: the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina-Sofia. Of these three the Prado is the largest and of course then has the most extensive collection with many masterpieces. As I found my way from one masterpiece to another, I quickly remembered what I had discovered about myself by the time I had finished going through the Uffizi in Florence: Renaissance art is really not my thing – oh, what a surprise! St John the Baptist’s bloody head on a platter or a gruesome scene from mythology just don’t grab me as art I want to study for hours. Neither does another Virgin with baby Jesus or the Annunciation. Ok, I get it. This was the way to get the message to the masses that could not read, and it was also breaking ground in the world of art and representations, but enough already!!!

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There was plenty of other art and other periods, including some religious art that I really did enjoy. There was a Rubens painting of the Immaculate Conception that looked very familiar to me and it made me wonder if perhaps a copy of this was in the old St. Ann’s school building where I went to first through third grades.

And then these was this portrait by Vela'zquez of the infanta Margarita, daughter of Felipe IV (1605-1665), surrounded by her servants or “family” in a hall of Madrid’s Alcázar Palace, that I could have studied for hours:

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The Prado is huge and although I spent about 5 hours there, I didn’t hit all of the exhibits. There was a special exhibit on the Spanish landscape artist, Martin Rico that I really enjoyed as well. Here is a link to the Prado if you are interested in seeing some of the wide variety of art displayed: this is for the recommended three hour visit: http://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/what-to-see/3-hours-in-the-museum/

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The second museum I visited was the Thyssen, which was a private collection of a Baron’s that was then donated to the nation. Along side this collection a second collection has been added of work collected by the Baroness. This museum had some Van Gogh, Renoir, Pissaro, Degas, Ce’zanne and Monet, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Of course there were a few Picassos and Miro’s as well as they are favorite Spanish artists. At this museum I actually felt I saw everything I wanted to and took my time and enjoyed it. After I went to a “American Store” that I found on line that sold British and American grocery products. This is where I found the things I needed for making the Thanksgiving dinner. I’m either going to have to go back there to get some more canned pumpkin or try to find some fresh pumpkin at the local stores so I can make more pumpkin pie! (I have also promised to make an apple pie for Irene before I leave!)

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The last museum I went in to visit was the Reina-Sophia which I did on a Monday. What a mistake! I rode into the city with Sagrario on her way to work and then caught the metro the rest of the way. I had to be back by 2:30 for a lesson with Jaime. This was to give me three hours in the museum. Don’t know what I was thinking! I now will be going back there after I leave the family, as I barely touched on the pieces I wanted to see. (It ended up taking me 3 hours to get back home and I missed having a lesson with Jaime that day!)

When I arrived, I was advised to go to the fourth floor, as three school groups were in front of me for the second floor which holds the famous Picasso piece, “Guernica”. I found the art on the fourth floor fascinating and spent a lot of time there. It included two different photography layouts from Life and Harper’s Bazaar magazines from the 1950's of life in Southern Spain.

There was also sculpture and many other interesting pieces.

Equipo 57 (1957-62) Various artists in collaboration

And this piece reminded me of my kid’s Grandpa Antrim, as he loved Alexander Calder and his mobiles:

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Alexander Calder, Constellation, 1944

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By the time I got to the second floor, I only had time to find “Guernica” and study it. I am not a huge fan of Picasso, although I do enjoy some of his work. This piece though I would not use the word "enjoy", however it is quite moving especially when you have it deconstructed for you into all of the parts and see through pictures the construction of the piece and to have it's history explained.

"Probably Picasso's most famous work, Guernica is certainly the his most powerful political statement, painted as an immediate reaction to the Nazi's devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during Spanish Civil War.
Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world's attention."