Madrid: A world-class exhibitionist
With a hat-trick of impressive galleries, Madrid gives art lovers plenty to meditate on, says Cathy Packe
Published: 29 October 2005 by Independent.co.uk
Out of thousands of works of art on display in Madrid, the Lucien Freud portrait of a German-Hungarian man in a tweed jacket, his eyes cast downwards deep in thought is not, perhaps, among the most remarkable. It is interesting, though, because of its subject. This is a portrait of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, and it hangs on the ground floor of his own museum. The baron took over the collection begun by his father in the 1920s, and added to it until it became too large to display in his own home in Switzerland. Searching Europe for suitable premises, he was offered the Palacio de Villahermosa, a 19th-century palace that happened to be empty and ready for conversion.
The contents of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum are widely regarded as the greatest private art collection in the world. But when the museum opened in Madrid in 1992, it wasn't exactly bringing painting to a city deprived of art. On the same street were two of the greatest art galleries in the world: the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, the modern art collection which had opened in 1988, and the Museo del Prado.
Like those of the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the works in the Prado were, at least in part, amassed by private collectors, in this case the Spanish royal family. The collection has been greatly extended since the museum opened in 1819, but its core reflects the tastes of various kings, as well as the political fortunes of the Spanish nation. As a result, there is an extensive collection of Dutch paintings from the 16th century, when Spain ruled the Netherlands; and many French paintings were acquired during the 17th century, reflecting the good relationship between Spain and France at the time.
One of the keenest and most knowledgeable of royal collectors was Felipe IV, whose 64-year reign spanned the middle of the 17th century. He appointed Velazquez as his official artist, to paint portraits of the court and pictures to adorn the walls of the various royal residences; the painter was also to supervise the expansion of the royal collection.
Among the large collection of Velazquez's own work are many portraits of the royal family, as well as his most celebrated picture, Las Meninas. Originally hung in Felipe IV's office, it portrays a group of palace servants around the Infanta Margarita. Her parents, Felipe IV and Queen Mariana of Austria, are reflected in a mirror, and the artist painted himself at one side of the canvas.
Velazquez is one of a trio of Spanish painters whose works are particularly well-represented at the Prado. Several rooms are devoted to Domeniko Theotocopoulos - who you, and certainly most Spanish visitors, may know better as El Greco. His expressive portraits contrast with the more rigid faces painted by his contemporaries in the 16th century. Large canvasses, with the greens, pinks, blues and golds so typical of his work, hang in one room, while in another is an exquisite small picture of the flight into Egypt, and a version of the Annunciation, probably painted in Venice and influenced by Titian.
Among the works of Goya that hang in galleries on the first and second floors is a series of country scenes, painted to hang in the royal palace of El Pardo, just outside Madrid, and a series of early paintings that were to form templates to be turned into tapestries by the Royal Tapestry Factory in the city.
One note about the Prado: its labyrinthine layout provides so many interconnecting doors and confusing staircases that it is easy to get completely lost, even with a map.
Little in the Prado was painted after the mid-19th century; later works are displayed in the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, just down the road. This is Spain's national modern art museum, showing the works from a previous contemporary art museum as well as numerous recent acquisitions. It is housed in an old hospital, the structure of which was retained when it became a museum, although glass lifts have been added to the outside to make easier access for visitors, while the interior was gutted to create a backdrop suitable for displaying works of modern art.
The resulting museum is one of the largest exhibition spaces in Europe, allowing the pictures to be shown at their best, carefully lit on uncluttered walls. The rooms are clearly numbered, and it is easy to progress logically through the museum's chronological display.
The aim is to show the development of modern Spanish art and to put it into an international context; so next to a gallery of works by the avant-garde painters of Spain is another which shows what was happening in other parts of Europe and how that affected the work of the Spanish artists.
The museum's biggest attraction is Picasso's Guernica. This shows the horror of the destruction of the Basque town in 1937 by bombers from Nazi Germany; Hitler saw this as a way to provide support for Franco in the Civil War, and to practise the technique of saturation bombing.
Picasso would not allow the work to be displayed in Spain while Franco was alive. When finally it was brought to Madrid from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, it was protected by bullet-proof glass. Now, though, that has been removed, and the only protection is a guard at each side and a bank of closed-circuit TV cameras.
The painting hangs on its own, and part of the wall opposite has been opened up to allow it to be seen from far enough away to appreciate the perspective. In the preceding gallery are some 20 of Picasso's preparatory sketches; and later in the exhibition is a collection of photographs charting the progress of the work.
The Thyssen-Bornemisza collection is set out in a similarly orderly fashion. Like the Reina Sofia, the newest of Madrid's art museums is housed in premises that were remodelled to accommodate it, and the works are hung in a series of long galleries, with smaller rooms opening off. The walls are painted in a shade of terracotta, which seems to enhance the paintings that hang there; it is particularly effective against the luminous colours of the 14th-century religious works at the beginning of the display.
Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza's collection is like a compendium of art history, laid out in chronological order. Most of Europe's best-known artists are represented: a Holbein portrait of Henry VIII in one room, Monet's The Thaw at Vetheuil in another, Mondrian on the ground floor. Given the baron's German-Hungarian background, it is unsurprising that there is no particular emphasis here on Spanish art - there is plenty of that down the street - but the leading artists from Spain are not overlooked: El Greco, Goya, Picasso and Dali are all included in the collection.
Despite the death of the Baron in 2002, the collection continues to grow. His widow, Carmen, has been collecting in her own right since the Eighties, and the museum has recently been extended to provide room for her paintings.
The emphasis on landscape painting reflects the Baroness's belief that art can take people to other places. There are 17th-century Dutch landscapes, an extensive set of 19th-century American panoramas, cityscapes of Venice, and numerous interiors that span the centuries.
That there is so much art to see in such a small area poses a problem. It would be impossible to see everything in a single visit; the Reina Sofia Centre has nearly 300 of Picasso's works in its collection, leaving aside all its other treasures, while the Prado has several thousand works on display. But the three art museums are one of the city's greatest attractions, too, and help to make Madrid a place to return to over and over again.
GALLERIES GUIDE
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Paseo del Prado 8 (00 34 914 203 944; www.museothyssen.org), 10am-7pm daily except Monday; €6 (£4.30).
Prado, Paseo del Prado (00 34 913 30 28 00; www.museoprado.mcu.es), 9am-7pm daily except Monday; €6 (£4.30).
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Calle Santa Isabel 52 (00 34 91 774 10 00; www.museoreinasofia.mcu.es), 10am-9pm Monday and Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-2.30pm on Sunday; €3 (£2.15).
If you plan to visit all three of these museums, the Paseo del Arte ticket allows admission to them all. It can be bought at any of the museums, costs €12 (£8.60), and is valid for a year, but you are only allowed one visit to each of the museums.
