Prado Museum ticket prices to rise

The Prado Museum announced today that admission as of Sunday 4th September will now cost 10€, up from 7€. However this new price includes entry to the temporary collections which are currently at extra charge or cost the same as the new price with a combinted ticket. The museum says the idea is to give the a much more diverse visitor experience.

Antonio López at the Thyssen Bornemsiza

Today (Tuesday 28th June) the Thyssen Museum will inaugurate its summer temporary exhibtion which is dedicated to the Spanish artist and sculptor Antonio López (1936-). López's style is often described as realist, yet his earlier works often have a more surreal air to them. Many of his paintings have a striking real-life quality to them, that it is difficult to tell whether it is a photograph or a painting. One such example is the incredible series of paintings he produced during the 1960's of Madrid, which includes a well known one of Gran Vía. López also produced the giant baby head sculptures which can be found at the entrance to Atocha station in Madrid. If you want to catch the exhibtion it will run until 25th September. Admission costs 10€ to the exhibition alone or 13€ when combined with entry to the full collection.

The Young Ribera: a new exhibition at the Prado

Starts 5th April at the Prado. José de Ribera, (born 1591 in Valencia) is one of the greats of tenebrism, a movement which uses shadows and contrasts of light in paintings. He spent most of his years in Rome and Naples, where he became inspired by Caravaggio's works and studied naturalism. This exhibition features works from his early days, a period of time where his styles changed as he experimented with different methods. Although a number of his works are already on show at the Prado, the pieces on display come from a variety of art collections from around the world. You can see the exhibition until 31st July.

Admission to the exhibition costs 10€ or 5€ at reduced rate and includes entrance to all temporary exhibitions. A combined ticket for both the temporary and permanent collections costs 12€. To see more info about this exhibition, here's a link to the page on the Prado Museum website. 


We also found this article from the El País section in English about this exhibition. It's worth a read.

What's on at the Thyssen Museum:

Here is the spring programme of temporary exhibitions on at the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum:

Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904)  Some of the French sculpture's best works will be on display. Co-organised by the Musée d'Orsay Paris and the J.Paul Getty Museum. (Until 22nd May)

Heroines This exhibition looks at the role of women in active roles depicted in Western art from the renaissance period up to the present day. The exhibition features works from Rubens, Goya and Caravaggio. (From 8th March- 5th June)


Entrance: 7€

Address: Paseo del Prado 8 (Metro: Sevilla, Banco de España or Atocha)

More details about the exhibitions

Chardin (1699-1779) at the Prado Museum

18th century French painter Chardin is considered one of the masters of still life painting, and 57 of his best loved works will be on display at a temporary exhibition at the Prado Museum from 1st March. This is the first ever exhibition dedicated to the artist in Spain, with the pieces loaned from prestigious art collections such as the Louvre and the National Gallery London. Works on show include The Ray, The Young School Teacher, and Two Rabbits. Entrance to the exhibition costs 10€ or 5€ at reduced rate. Runs until 29th May. For the exhibition website, click here.

Spring Exhibitions 2011 at the Reina Sofía

The Reina Sofía Museum has an exciting programme of  temporary exhibitions for this spring and we decided to include their details on here. They are as follows:

Asier Mendizabal Until May 2
Efrén Álvarez. Económicos Until May 30
Dorit Margreiter: Description Until April 25
Atlas. How to carry the world on one’s back? Until March 28, 2011
Jessica Stockholder. Peer Out to See Until May 2, 2011 (Palacio de Cristal, Retiro Park)

Miroslaw Balka. ctrl Until April 25, 2011 (Abadía de Santo Domingo de Silos (Burgos) and Sala de Bóvedas, Museo Reina Sofía)
Jean-Luc Mylayne Until March 27, 2011 (Palacio de Velázquez, Retiro Park)

Coming soon:

Harsh light, without compassion. The Worker-Photography Movement, 1926-1939

Runs April 6 - August 22
Entrance to the exhibitions costs 3€ and covers all temporary exhibits. For more information about the Reina Sofía, here's the museum website

 

Exhibitions at The Prado Museum for 2011

There Prado Museum has just announced its exhibitions for the coming year. They are as follows:

1st March- 29th May Chardin (1699-1779)
5th April- 31st July The Young Ribera
5th May- 31st July New Acquisitions 1996-2010
8th November- 26th March 2012 Treaures from the Hermitage


Also some of The Prado's collection will be on display at The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg this spring as part of an exchange of artworks.


You can find out more about the exhibitions on The Prado Museum's website. Of course as these exhibitions approach, we'll include more information about them on here.

Last chance to see Passion for Renoir at The Prado

This week the Passion for Renoir exhibition at The Prado Museum will be coming to an end. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to see some of his most famous works on show in the Spanish capital, which normally can only been seen at the Clark Institute in Massachusetts. The exhibition has proved so popular that the museum decided to extend its running period.

The exhibtion closes on Sunday 13th February.

Where: The Museo del Prado, Paseo del Prado. Metro Atocha (L1) or Banco de España (L2).

Click here to go to the exhibition website.

El Esplendor del Románico (Romanesque Splendor)

El Esplendor Románico, starting at the Fundación Mapfre on 10th February, is a new exhibtion dedicated to romanesque art. The objects on display come from the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona, which perhaps has some of the best preserved examples of romanesque art in its collection. The 59 artefacts on show include murals, sculpture and liturgical objects made from materials including wood, stone and enamel. Many consider this to be one of the finest exhibtions of romanesque art in many years, due to the historical significance of the exhibits.

The exhibtion runs until 15th May at the Fundación Mapfre, Paseo de Recoletos (about a ten minute walk up from the Prado Museum). Metro: Colón (L4) or Banco de España (L2). Entrance is free, and audioguides for the exhibtion are available in English.  Link to the exhibition website

The Prado Museum and The Hermitage announce an exchange of artworks

Two of the world's greatest art museums, The Prado and The Hermitage in St. Petersburg have announced today that they plan to exchange some parts of their collections to create an exhibtion.  The first exhibition The Prado in the Hermitage will take place in at the St Petersburg gallery from February 25th- 29th May, and will feature works in the Prado's collection from masters such as Goya, Velázquez, Ruben and Tiziano.  In exchange, The Prado will host The Treasures of The Hermitage from 8th November- 26th March 2012.

ARCOmadrid International Contemporary Art Fair 16th-20th February

Taking place between 16th-20th February is the ARCOmadrid Internation Comtemporary Art Fair, during which Madrid will become the world capital for contemporary art. This event, now in its 30th year, is highly estimed in the contemporary art circuit and it is one of the biggest events of its kind. This edition should see more than 300,000 visitors pass through its doors, and 145 exhibitors from various art galleries and institutions across the globe will be there. Also there will be a series of talks each evening given by experts from the international contemporary art scene for both the general public and professionals.

The fair takes place at the Fería de Madrid (IFEMA), metro Campo de las Naciones (L8). Tickets cost 32€ or 66€ with the full entrance pack. You can visit the ARCOmadrid website and buy tickets here.

Make a virtual visit to the Reina Sofia or the Thyssen Bornemisza!

It's no substitute for a real visit, but Google have launched a very ingenious website, known as GoogleArtProject, where you can make an online visit to some of the world's top art galleries, including the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen Bornemisza museums in Madrid. Not every piece of artwork is online, but you can view some of the best known works in their collections. In the Thyssen section, we were able to view works by Cézanne, Rubins, Van Gough, Monet, Renoir and Caravaggio, however the Reina Sofia section is still rather small. Fingers crossed more works will be added, and hopefully we'll see the addition of the Prado Museum some time soon.

Adam Fuss at the Fundación Mapfre

Beautiful. That is one word to describe the photographs by London born Adam Fuss which are currently on display at the Fundación Mapfre. Fuss is not like any other photographer; in fact he does not even use a normal camera to take his photographs, prefering to use old style techniques with chemicals as used by Fox Talbot and Daguerre. His images are truely fascinating and it's certainly a photography exhibition not like any other. Here is a video about the exhibition, which includes an interview with Fuss in English:

The exhibtion is on until 17th April at the Fundación Mapfre, Paseo de Recoletos (about a ten minute walk up from the Prado Museum). Metro: Colón (L4) or Banco de España (L2). Free entry. Audioguides for the exhibtion are available in English.  Here's a link to the exhibition, where you can see a selection of his images

Hans Peter Feldman- An Art Exhibtion

Hans Peter Feldman is a conceptual artist, who after growing up in postwar Germany where images were scarce, became fascinated with collecting photographs, videos and trival art with the idea of recontextualising them. One of his signature pieces is his own version of Michelangelo's David, who he has given a pop art makeover. Feldman has exhibited all over Europe, including Barcelona, Venice, Paris and Germany. He might not be to everyone's taste, but we think An Art Exposition is a must for fans of contemporary art and those who like their art brash and colourful.

We've also found this video of the exhibition:

The exhibition is on at the Reina Sofía until 28^th February. Entry 3€.
Exhibition website

Francis Bacon.Detritus at the Ivory Press

 Following on from the highly successful exhibition two years ago at the Prado Museum, Francis Bacon makes a return to Madrid, a city he visited many times and his place of death. This exhibition was put together by Elena Ochoa Foster, wife of architect Norman Foster, and has on display several volumes of facsimilies of magazines, newspaper cuttings, letters and notes which were found in suitcases at his home.
Entry to the exhibtion is free and runs until February 6th.

The Ivory Press, C/ Comandante Zorita 46, Madrid (near metro Santiago Bernabeu)
Website

Dalí, Lorca y la residencia de estudiantes (Dalí, Lorca and the Student House)

This exhibition has been on a while now, but fans of Spanish culture will be very interested to see this. Ittells the story how the world's most famous surrealist artist met Lorca, perhaps Spain's greatest writer of the 20^th century whilst they were living at a university residence together in Madrid. For many years the pair had a very strong friendship until Dalí left for Paris and Lorca travelled to New York. Tragically, Lorca would later be shot by a fascist millitia. Until 6^th February 2011. Free entry.

Address: CaixaForum, Paseo del Prado 38 (metro Atocha)

Website

The Reina Sofia Museum

The Reina Sofia is Spain’s national museum of modern art and home of Picasso’s Guernica. Housed in a former palace and a mere 5 minute walk from the Prado Museum, you will find here masterpieces by both Spanish and foreign artists such as Dali, Miro, Tàpies, Ernst, Bacon and Van Gogh. Usually there are a number of temporary exhibitions in addition to the main collection at addition entry charge. Even on its busiest days, the Reina Sofia still feels light and spacious. The building has a delightful courtyard garden, which makes a pleasant place for a quick break. We also recommned the views from its very stylish glass exterior elevators. Free entry Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday, but it can get very crowded.

Web: www.museoreinasofia.es (details of temporary exhibits here)
Address: Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, s/n. Madrid, Metro Atocha (L1).
Open: Monday to Saturday: from 10:00 to 21:00; Sunday: 10:00 to 14:30.
Closed: Tuesdays; Jan. 1 and 6, May 1 and 15, Sept. 9, Dec. 24, 25 and 31
Entrance: General admission 6€, although some discounts may apply. Temporary exhibition entry: 3€. Free entry after 19.00 on weekdays, after 2.30pm on Saturdays, all day Sunday and on some public holidays.

Impressionists Gardens Exhibition (Jardines Impresionistas)

The Fundación Caja Madrid and the Thyssen Museum are running conjunctly a new exhibition featuring paintings of gardens by famous impressionists such as De La Croix, Munch and Klimt. Many of the works date from the mid nineteenth century, the time when new and exciting species of plants and flowers were being introduced to European and American gardens, which we can see in these paintings. The exhibition opens on 16th November and runs until 13th February. Lovers of impressionist art will also not want to miss the Renoir exhibition currently on at the Prado museum.

Address: Fundación Caja Madrid, Plaza San Martin 1, (Metro Sol or Opera) and Thyssen Museum, Paseo del Prado 8 (Metro Atocha/Banco de España).

Renoir coming soon to the Prado

Renoir Exhibition at the Prado Museum
If you are planning a visit to the Prado Museum in the coming months, be sure not to miss the Renoir exhibtion. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to see some of his most famous works on show in the Spanish capital, which normally can only been seen at the Clark Institute in Massachusetts. The exhibition begins on 19th October and runs until 6th February 2011.




Click here for the exhibition website