Reina Sofia
Spanish Modern Art Museum Madrid: History,
Collection Highlights, Contact Details.
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Reina Sofia |
Reina Sofia Art MuseumContents • Introduction |
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The Reina Sofia National Art museum (MNCARS), often shortened to the Reina Sofia, is Spain's national museum of modern art. It was established in 1992 and is located in the so-called Golden Triangle of Art in Madrid, next to the Paseo del Prado which comprises the Prado Museum and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. One of the best art museums in Europe, the Reina Sofia is primarily dedicated to Spanish painting, and houses an excellent collection by modern Spanish Masters like Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Joan Miro (1893-1983) and Surrealist Salvador Dali (1904-89). Perhaps it’s most famous work is Picasso’s huge painting Guernica (1937) measuring 11 feet tall by nearly 26 feet wide. The museum is constantly expanding its collection while regularly organizing temporary exhibitions alongside its permanent collection. The building itself was formerly an 18th century city hospital. Additions were added over the years but it received a radical facelift in 2005 with the addition of 3 glass circular towers designed by architect Jean Nouvel and some extra exhibition space. The museum also has a public library which contains over 100,000 books, 1,000 videos and 3,500 sound recordings. |
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The Collection |
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Picasso,
Miro and Dali These three most influential Spanish artists of the 20th century form the backbone of the permanent collection. Painter, sculptor and ceramist, Picasso is perhaps the biggest tourist attraction of all. His painting Guernica was first exhibited in the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World Fair in Paris during the Spanish Civil War. It is considered a fundamental work of 20th Century art, and a universal symbol of the fight against oppression. Joan Miro, who famously stated 'I want to murder painting', was part of the avant-garde who wanted to contaminate painting with junk-art elements such as industrial waste, recently born out of a new mass culture. Good examples of his work in the collection include Portrait II (1938); Dog Barking at the Moon (1926, Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art); and Woman, Bird and Star (1970). Salvador Dali, a skilled draftsman, is best known for his bizarre surrealist paintings, including The Great Masturbator (1929) which was painted 2 years before The Persistence of Memory (1931, MOMA, New York). Post-Civil War Paintings Like its hypermodern sister the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, the Reina Sofia also features a wide collection of contemporary art. The Spanish Civil war put an end to what was known as the Silver age in Spanish art. After the War, themes of death and religion gave rise to new artistic groups like Equipo 57 and El Paso. 20th Century painters and other artists from this period represented in the permanent collection include: Antoni Tapies (b.1923), Basque sculptor, designer and painter Jorge Oteiza (1908-2003) and the Spanish-born artist Esteban Vicente (1903-2001). In the 1960s many Spanish artists returned to figurative art and this is reflected in the works of several 20th Century sculptors like Juan Munoz (1953-2001), who worked primarily in paper mache, bronze and resin; realist Antonio Lopez (b.1936) and painter and graphic artist Eduardo Arroyo (b.1937). National themes are placed in a European context as the museum also displays works from artists such as Jean Dubuffet (1901-85), Max Ernst (1891-76), Francis Bacon (1909-92), abstract sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986), Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) and leading member of the French art movement New Realism Yves Klein (1928-62). There are also a few international artists represented such as abstract expressionist Clyfford Still (1904-80), Richard Serra (b.1939) and photographer Man Ray (1890-1976). Contact Details Address Reina Sofia Art Museum Santa Isabel, 52 28012 Madrid Telephone +34 91 774 1000 info@museoreinasofia.es Website www.museoreinasofia.es/index_en.html Opening Times Monday to Saturday: 10am to 9pm Sunday: 10am to 2.30pm Tuesdays: closed |
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