El Centro de Arte Reina Sofia - Guernica & Mas

...put in a long, 11 hour work day...lucky for us, our generous hosts at Vitruvio/LBMadrid were kind enough to organize a 9pm, after hours visit to Madrid's preeminent modern art museum, El Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, which houses the largest collection of 20 century art in the country.
Today was the day I saw Picasso's Guernica up close for the first time. We studied it in AP European History in high school, but even knowing the background of this incredibly powerful piece doesn't really mean you can digest the scope, ambition, and potency of one of Picasso's most influential works... Here it is, in pint-sized glory....


We had a private tour with a lovely art historian, who told us gently that no photographs were allowed at all. After a long desconstruction session in which she explained countless symbolic details of the work, we followed her out the room. On the way out, I couldn't resist snapping this lil' moment, of me looking back at it...
Also saw the following paintings...
The Great Masturbator - Salvador Dali, 1929

La Maquina de coser electrosexual - Oscar Dominguez
(aka the Electrosexual Sewing Machine)

El cristo de la sangre (1911)
Ignacio Zuloaga


Pablo Picasso
La Mujer y La Mandolina

Garrote Vil
Ramon Casas
1894

....there was a lot more that we did see, but at the same time, we only skimmed the surface over the course of an hour... missed Joan Miro, whose wing was apparently closed for renovations... found this quote by Miro worth sharing...

"La inmovilidad me fascina. Esta botella, este vaso, una enorme piedra sobre una banca desierta. Estas son cosas sin movimiento, pero desencadenan grandiosos movimientos en mi mente. No siento ésto con las personas que cambian de lugar constantemente de manera idiota. La gente en movimiento bañándose en la playa me conmueve mucho menos que la inmovilidad de una piedra."

Joan Miró

...hope to make it back to El Centro at some point with a lot more time on my hands to fully soak it all in...