DK Travel : Madrid : Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

No one has rated this yet.

Rate it

Review this attraction

Are these details incorrect?

The Reina Sofia’s collection of 20th- and 21st-century Spanish art is exciting and challenging by turns. The museum, set in a converted hospital, was inaugurated by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía in September 1990 and, besides the permanent collection, stages outstanding temporary exhibitions from around the world. The organization is thematic and chronological, beginning with the Basque and Catalan schools of the early 1900s. While most visitors home in on the rooms exhibiting the great masters of the interwar period – Juan Gris, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso, whose Guernica is the centrepiece of the gallery (see Pablo Picasso’s Guernica)– lesser-known Spanish painters and sculptors are worth seeking out. Works by the European and American avant-garde provide an international context.
The museum regularly loans works of art to galleries around the world, so not all works may be on display at the time of your visit.

Top 10 Paintings

1. Woman in Blue

This marvellous Blue-period portrait (1901) by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was painted shortly after his first visit to Paris – he painted the insolent-looking courtesan from memory. When the painting failed to win a national exhibition, a disgruntled Picasso discarded it. It was discovered several years later.
2. Portrait of Sonia de Klamary

Hermengildo Anglada Camarasa (1871–1959) had a sensual style as this evocative painting (c.1913) shows.
3. The Gathering at Café de Pombo

José Gutiérrez Solana (1886–1945) loved to record the social life of the capital, as in this 1920 portrait of a literary group. The painting’s owner, novelist and poet Ramón Gómez de la Serna, is shown standing in the centre.
4. Guitar in Front of the Sea

Juan Gris (1887–1927) became one of Cubism’s leading exponents. This 1925 work is an excellent example.
5. The Great Masturbator

Catalan artist Salvador Dalí (1904–89) was a leading exponent of Surrealism, with its exploration of the subconscious. The figure of the Masturbator (1929) is derived from a weird rock formation at Cadaqués.
6. Bulls (Bullfighting)

In this 1933 painting Benjamin Palencia (1894–1980) evokes the arid landscape of La Mancha, while the animals appear symbolic.
7. Portrait II

Joan Miró (1893– 1983) encompassed Cubism and Surrealism but he never lost his extraordinary originality. In this 1938 work the Catalan painter is more interested in juxtaposing colours rather than revealing the physical attributes of the sitter.
8. Animal Head with Apples

This 1939 still life by Luis Fernández (1900–73) harks back to the classical traditions of 17th-century Spanish painting. Fernández experimented with abstraction and Surrealism before settling on his own figurative style.
9. Superimposition of Grey Matter

Antoní Tàpies (b.1923) is arguably Spain’s most important postwar artist. His “matter paintings”, including this 1961 work, explore texture and are composed by adding layers of mixed media, such as sand, pigment, powdered marble and paint, onto a prevarnished canvas.
10. Painting is like Hitting

This entertaining 1972 work, in which two suited artists slug it out among outsized tubes of paint, is by “Equipo Crónica”, aka artists Rafael Solbes (1940–81) and Manuel Valdés (b.1942). The duo were inspired by Pop Art.

Practical Information

The Arola Madrid café-restauratant was designed by Jean Nouvel and can be accessed via the mu-seum or from Ronda de Atocha street. The museum shop sells Spanish designer jewellery and cera-mics as well as books, slides and posters. Calle Santa Isabel 52 91 774 1000 www.museoreinasofia.mcu.es Open 10am–9pm Mon, Wed–Sat, 10am–2:30pm Sun; Closed Tue, 1 Jan, 6 Jan, 1 May, 15 May, 9 Nov, 24–25 Dec, 31 Dec Adm €3.00 (free Sat after 2:30pm & Sun) Paseo de Arte €12 Dis. access