Madrid, Spain
Today, my class visited the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art. Danielle met Kristin and I there after class so we could wander around even more. This particular building was built in the 1700s to group all the hospitals together, and is only a quarter of the size it was intended to be. In the 1980s, it was converted into a modern art museum. 1881, the year of Picasso’s birth, was (arbitrarily) chosen as the start date for what constitutes modern art.
At first, the museum was not getting much traffic. So, against the death wishes of the painter himself, they removed Picasso’s Guernica from El Prado and put it in the Reina Sofia. That did the trick, and now the museum has a steady flow of visitors.
If you ever get a chance to see Guernica in person, you absolutely must do so. It is a huge painting – very loud, noisy, emotional. You won’t go away untouched.
The preceding room holds the sketches and paintings created while Picasso was brainstorming for Guernica. He was supposed to have painted directly on the wall of an exhibition and it’s a good thing he didn’t, because that building was destroyed. Had his canvas not been somewhat portable, we wouldn’t still have it today.
As usual, I can yammer on for pages regarding this painting… but I won’t (unless you special request it)
