5 Best Christmas Exhibits

There is too much to see and too little time in this marvelous city! These Christmas do not miss…

1.       MUSEO THYSSEN: “Cartier”. The most beautiful historic pieces of the famous French jeweler are being exhibited at the Thyssen Museum. Cartier came to fame as the “King of Jewelers” during the Belle Époque for his beautifully made diamond and platinum jewelry created for the Courts of Europe and Americans of the Gilded Age. During the Art Deco era, Cartier fashioned some spectacular pieces for celebrities of the day, from the Duchess of Windsor to Jean Cocteau. My favorite is a stripped cigarette case and a matching lighter that belonged to the sister of the present Spain’s King.

2.       FUNDACION ICO: “Ma Yansong “. The very young and award-winning architect of the ICO foundation is on exhibit. His projects are very interesting since they strength the artistic character of architecture without forgetting its sustainable social impact and the local tradition. A young artist who we will surely be talking a lot about in the XXI century.

3.       FUNDACION JUAN MARCH: “Arte británico de Holbein a Hockney”. British art is quite unknown in Spain, with one exception the Fundacion Lázaro Galdiano’s portraits collection. That’s why this exhibition demonstrates the extraordinary scope and vitality of art in Great Britain since the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century through present day. The idea that lies behind the exhibition is to learn what occurred in the art world in Great Britain through five centuries of British art when we enquire into where it was and is instead of what it was and is. It’s curious that a considerable number of foreign artists made Great Britain their home and their place of work. For instance, look at John Singer Sargent’s portrait of a woman.

4.       TELEFONICA: “Colección Cubista”.  The exhibition underscores the relevance of Juan Gris for Cubism, to my personal point of view more valuable than Picasso’s or Braque’s one. The artist is presented in all the diversity and complexity of his career, of his work with formats of diverse proportions and textures following his invention of plastic rhymes. Juan Gris is also the leading exponent of the new form of Cubism that emerged between 1916 and 1923.

5.       PALACIO DE CIBELES: “Casa Alba”.  Without a doubt this will be one of the major exhibitions of the year. Historically, The Dukes of Alba have been the largest art collectors after the Royal Dynasties in Spain. Their taste for art is exquisite, and their collection is wonderful, at least the minute part of it shown here. We fin Goyas’, Titians’, Ingres’, Rubens’, and Fra Angelico’s “Our Lady of Granada,” which according to the director of the MET is the painter’s best preserved work. Beyond paintings, we also have the opportunity to see incredible pieces like Christopher Columbus’ hand-written letters and the House of Alba’s Bible translated to three languages from the Hebrew Bible, held in the fifteenth century by the Jewish Rabbi Mose Arragel.

 Do not miss this unique opportunity!

5 Best Autumn Art Museum Exhibits

Madrid is well known for its art museums. While many permanent exhibits are world renown, the museums also treat us to excellent temporary exhibits. 

Here are Madrid’s 5 best temporary exhibits to see till December 2012.

PALACIO REAL  “Goya y el Infante Don Luis, el exilio y el reino”

An interesting character, and Carlos III’s brother, Don Luis married a woman of lower social status and therefore was banished from the Court. He is obligated to live in a Palace in Avila   where some of the most interesting intellectuals of the era gathered. Goya could not resist visiting him and stays almost a month, making portraits of the family. Look for my favorite one, Maria Teresa de Borbón y Vallabriga, who was almost three years old… and later try to find her again in the rooms dedicated to Goya in the Prado Museum and discover what happened in her life.

 

FUNDACION MAPHRE: “Retratos del Pompidou.”

In the 20th century, contemporary artists defined their opposition to the “ideal beauty” of the classical eras, to show the imperfect, the unstable, and the fragmented.  I think that these ideas are perfectly reflected in Bacon’s self-portrait. Look for it.

REINASOFIA : “Encuentros en los años 30.”

Celebrating the arrival of Guernica masterpiece 30 years ago, this exhibition provides an overview of the artistic events that were happening in the world during the 30s, and thus influenced Picasso’s creation. The brutal impact of the wars during this period, the passage from European fascism, the democratization of photography, consciousness of abstract art, the rupture in the vanguards, were the beginning of  the future of contemporary art. My favorite is definitely Guernica.

 

MUSEO DEL PRADO :”El joven Van Dyck”

The Prado Museum seems to recently favor exhibitions focusing on the beginnings of the great geniuses careers. The unknown stage of the young Ribera, Rafael's early years, the young Van Dyck ... the latter, born the same year of Velazquez and pupil of Rubens (Velázquez who admires and even celebrates at the end of his life in The Spinners) tries to highlight his master and seek new and elegant forms of expression. I love his adolescent self-portrait.

 

MUSEO DEL ROMANTICISMO “ Eugenia de Motijo”

A good excuse to visit this wonderful museum is its fabulous cafe. Eugenia, after marrying Napoleon II, became Empress of France, intervening actively in public and political life, as well as becoming an important reference in the fashion world, making Paris the capital of luxury.

If you are an art lover then you won’t want to miss these spectacular pieces. Enjoy!