Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid

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We went to this Museum on Sunday morning as it had free entry. It was weird and interesting as it houses contemporary art and I had not heard of any of the artists on show there.But the experience was very good and the museum building itself is great.when we came out there was a sort of Happening going on in the square (something to do with raising money for the developing countries I think)
and there was a local rock band playing there. So it was altogether a cool morning. Only down side was the fact we got pickpocketed on the way back up Atocha but more of that on warnings and dangers page...

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There are many masterpieces in the Reina Sofia museum. There is one that dwarfs all the others: Pablo Picasso's Guernica (El Gernika in Basque). Picasso's masterpiece, protesting fascism and war, resided in New York's Museum of Modern Art until, by its painter's order, Spain was rid of the fascist (falangist) dictator Francisco Franco -- and Spain became once more a liberal society. MOMA sent it to the Prado only after King Juan Carlos ceded the all-but-total powers Franco had bequeathed him and restored representative government.

The work is huge: nearly 11 by over 37 feet. It hangs in a room specially configured for it; and it is the only painting in that room. It is powerful. Very powerful. (Because photographing is prohibited in the museum, my picture here is taken from Wikipedia.)

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An old 18th century hospital was beautifully remodeled and converted into The Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid in 1992. In 2005 it added an extension designed by French architect Jean Nouvel to create new exhibition areas. The area devoted to the permanent collection has been increased by over 50%, making the Reina Sofia one of the largest contemporary art museums in the world today.

Many of its art works were transferred from the nearby Prado, and it's now a treasure-house of contemporary and modern art. Two of the floors are devoted to temporary exhibits, while the other two are for the permanent collection which also covers Abstract, Pop, and Minimal Art movements.

The highlight of this museum is the 20th century's most famous painting, Picasso's "Guernica". It was commissioned by the Spanish government for a Paris exhibition as a Civil War protest and hung in a New York gallery until 1981, fulfilling Picasso's wish that it should not be shown in Spain until democracy was established. It was then exhibited at the Prado, and moved to this permanent home in 1992.

The entrance fee to this museum is 6 Euros (2009). Madrid card or Paseo de Arte card holders entry free

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If you into modern contemporary art Reina Sofia will entertain you. It houses tremendous collections from well known artist like Salvador Daly, Pablo Picasso, Chillida, Miro and others. Make sure visiting Reina Sofia is part of your trip.

We visited Reina Sofia and glad we did. For the first time I saw ‘Guernica’ by Pablo Picasso, cubism at it’s finest. I knew the painting was big but I didn’t realize it was that big. I wish I could take a photo of his work. They are some weird and unusual work at the museum.

Open everyday except Tuesday.10am-9pm and Sunday10am-2.30pm.

General admission: €6.

The building that houses this art museum is huge with glass and steel lift shafts which was designed by British designer Ian Ritchie. In the centre is a courtyard that is very green and quite peaceful. A few sculptures are dotted around.

Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and Picasso are just some of the artists on display here. Picasso being the most popular. The most famous and most popular painting is Guernica by Picasso. This represents Picasso's impassioned denunciation of war and fascism. It commemorates the 1937 destruction of the Basque town of Guernica by German bombers supporting Francoist forces in the Spanish civil war. Because it is so popular, you may have to wait to get near it.

Picasso refused to allow the painting to be displayed in Spain under the Franco regime. It was finally brought to Spain in 1981. Arriving at the Reine Sofiain 1992 under controversy. Picasso apparently wanted it to be in the Prado .His family opposed the change of location. The conflict continued, Bilbao which is the capital of the Basque province of Vizcaya, which contains the town of Guernica, has staked a claim on the picture for its Guggenheim museum. Since it belongs to the Spanish state it isn't going anywhere.

There are several rooms with Picasso's work as well as Dali, including The Great Masturbator and the Enigma of Hitler.

There are temporary exhibitions, see part 2 for more. Open Mondays 10am-9pm. Closed Tuesdays. Wednesday-Saturday 10am-2.30pm. Free on Saturdays from 2.30pm-9pm and free all day Sunday. Atocha metro was closed when we were there.

As I said they also have temporary exhibitions here. One of which we loved so much that we went back with our friends again to see it and to show them.

The exhibition entitled Lives in Photography-Edward Steichen on until the 22nd September 2008 was okay, but the best exhibition is maquinas & almas souls & Machines) digital art and new media which is on until the 13th October 2008. It explores the fact that at the beginning of the 21st century art and science run along parallel paths. The use of robotics, information display and biotechnologies makes it very interesting, I really recommend that you see this. To give you a taster look at the virtual tours of MNCARS exhibitions www.museoreinasofia.es,

Not that we don`t like museums or art, but getting off from the rainy dutch weather was a main point to worn out our feet in the sun. So we weren`t really prepared to an art evening and didn`t know anything about expos amd, we ended up here by chance getting off from the rain and it was really a good chance. We enjoyed the huge Picasso expo, took our time and didn`t feel so bad for not visiting El Prado. Next time there will be time a good chance for that too :)

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The Reina Sofía museum is situated on The St Charles old general hospital. Is dedicated to contemporary art, with spanish and foreing works that coming from the old contemporary museum and the own adquisition that the new museum has done. The most important works are Dalí, Miró and Picasso with the master piece "El Guernica".

El museo Reina Sofía está instalado en el antiguo Hospital General de San Carlos. Está dedicado al arte contemporáneo, con obras tanto españolas como extranjeras que proceden de las colecciones del antiguo MEAC y de las propias adquisiciones que ha hecho. Las más importantes son las obras de Dalí, Joan Miró y Picasso con el Guernica.