We arrived in Madrid on Saturday evening and the first thing that struck us was the mass of humanity in every nook and cranny. Which is why it was surprising that at 10:00 am on Sunday the streets were practically deserted. We decided to see the Reina Sofia first, as we did not have advanced tickets and we thought the lines would be shorter. In fact, there was no line at all. When we left after an extraordinary three hours, the line was across the rather large plaza.<\/p>\n
The Reina is the most expertly curated museum I have ever experienced. Items in the permanent collection flow perfectly through time and are accentuated by films of the period that run continuously. (An Andalusian Dog–this blog’s namesake–was predictably playing in one room.) The collection is presented along a timeline that illustrates the chaos and misery of 20th century Spain, from WWI through II and the Spanish Civil War. It’s fascinating to see the artists’ styles and sensibilities change over this period–Dali becomes more surreal, Picasso breaks apart reality.<\/p>\n
I’ve been a devotee of Joan Mir\u00f3 since my Oberlin days working in the Allen Art Museum with the conservators reframing and rematting some of his prints, and the Mir\u00f3 collection here is wonderful. On this visit to the Reina Sofia, I’ve developed a new fondness for \u00d3scar Dominguez, \u00c1ngeles Santos, and particularly Juan Gris. The latter, of which I knew almost nothing before this visit, was a founder of the cubist movement who later rejected the movement and began painting decidedly non-cubist semi-abstractions using subdued and very beautiful (to my eye) tones. You can judge for yourself below.<\/p>\n
Later in the day we walked to the Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol–flowed with the river of humanity, to be more precise–and did a bit of shopping. I suspect we won’t go back except to get to the Royal Palace.<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>And here begins the Juan Gris lesson. First, Gris during his cubist period.<\/p>\n A transitional piece:<\/p>\n And finally some post-cubist work, which I like very much:<\/p>\n And for the record, a shot from the Plaza Mayor:<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>