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Three globally-renowned museums, collectively home to over 36,000 works of art and visited by more than seven million tourists last year. This is Madrid’s Art Walk (“Paseo del Arte,” in Spanish), the three cornerstones of which are the iconic Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums.
he Paseo del Prado is said to be the axis of this art triangle that houses one of the most important confluences of painting collections in the world, of which the Prado Museum is perhaps the most widely-known example. Opened in 1819, the Prado houses masterpieces from Spanish, Italian, French, Flemish and Dutch painting, besides various temporary exhibitions, that were visited by over three million tourists during the last year itself.
In its over 40,000 square meters of area, it boasts an astounding collection of more than 8,000 paintings, 5,000 sketches, 2,000 etchings, 700 sculptures and other high-value objects, making it one of the largest art galleries across the world.
Romanesque murals from the 12th century, works from the late 19th century, and important artworks by painters like Ribera, Zurbaran, Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Tiziano, Rubens and El Bosco, besides temporary exhibitions.
The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is located in the Palace of the Duke of Villahermosa, and opened its doors to the public in 1992, as the heart of the art collection of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza.
At this three-storey museum, one can lay eyes on over a thousand artworks criss-crossing the history of Western painting from the 13th to the 20th century, with great specimens from the art movements of the period, including the Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Romanticism and even Pop Art.
In 2016, the Thyssen-Bornemisza received more than one million visitors to view the works of Duccio, Van Eyck, Carpaccio, Dürer, Caravaggio, Rubens, Monet and Van Gogh, to name just some of them.
Completing the trio is the Reina Sofia Museum, a gallery of contemporary Spanish art which occupies what was once the San Carlos Hospital building, near the Atocha roundabout. Last year’s footfall at this gallery surpassed the three-million mark.
Inaugurated in 1990, it invites the visitor to a sojourn through the masterpieces of Pablo Picasso, Miro, Dali, Oteiza, Julio Gonzalez, Tapies, Barnet Newman and Soto.
The star attraction among Reina Sofia’s 21,000 works is undoubtedly Picasso’s Guernica, one of contemporary world’s most emblematic images and that represents the 1937 aerial bombing of the homonymous Spanish city by Nazi planes.
This museum also has an auditorium, a library, and several different halls to hold exhibitions such as the ongoing “Pity and Terror: Picasso’s Path to Guernica”, organized to mark the 80th anniversary of Guernica (1937) and on view until Sept. 4.
Surrounding the three museums - the essence of the Spanish capital city’s Art Walk - are other landmark cultural spaces, such as the National Archaeological Museum, and for nature lovers, the Royal Botanic Gardens, nestled close to the Prado.
Completing the picture is the throng of restaurants around the museum triangle, where one can expect to re-energize with a good draught beer – served chilled, Madrid-style - or a traditional vermouth.
For hunger pangs, there is the customary calamari sandwich at El Brillante, a soft beverage at Cafe Gijon, the legendary coffeehouse frequented by intellectuals that dates back to 1888, or seasonal dishes at the high-end Horcher restaurant, established in 1904.
28 June 2017
