Museums in Madrid

If you are an art lover visiting Madrid you shouldn't go the three most popular museums. MNCARS, Prado Museum and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

The three museums are very close to each other, located in the Paseo del Prado you can walk. In my opinion, the first that you should go is the Sofia Museum. Then, the Prado Museum, you’ll spend all the morning in both Museum.

In the noon, very close to the Prado Museum you could find diferents kinds of restaurants. After take the lunch you could visit the Thyssen Museum.

Reina Sofia Museum.

 

The museum is mainly dedicated to Spanish art. Highlights of the museum include excellent collections of Spain's two greatest 20th century masters, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Certainly the most famous masterpiece in the museum is Picasso's painting Guernica. The Reina Sofía also has fine collections of the works of Juan Gris, Joan Miró, Julio González, Eduardo Chillida, Antoni Tàpies, Pablo Gargallo, Pablo Serrano, Lucio Muñoz, Luis Gordillo, Jorge Oteiza, José Gutiérrez Solana and many other significant artists.

Foreign artists are few, but there are works by Robert Delaunay, Yves Tanguy, Man Ray, Jacques Lipchitz, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Max Ernst, Richard Serra, Bruce Neuman, Clyford Still, cubist still lifes by Georges Braque and a large work by Francis Bacon.

 

Rates of MNCARS			Schedule
General admission Joint visit collections and temporary exhibitions	€ 6.00		Monday to Saturday	10:00 to 21:00 h
Entry only for temporary exhibitions	€ 3.00		Sunday:	10:00 to 14:30 h
Free admission days Monday to Friday from 19.00 to 21.00 Saturday from 14.30 to 21.00 Sunday 10.00 to 14.30			Tuesday: Closed

More info in: http://www.museoreinasofia.es/index_en.html

Prado Museum

 
The Prado Museum is a museum and art gallery located in Madrid, the capital of Spain. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture, it also contains important collections of other types of works. A new, recently opened wing enlarged the display area by about 400 paintings, and it is currently used mainly for temporary expositions. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is considered to be among the greatest museums of art.

The collection currently comprises around 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints and 8,200 drawings, in addition to a large number of works of art and historic documents. By 2012 the Museum will be displaying about 1300 works in the main buildings, while around 3,100 works are on temporary loan to various museums and official institutions. The remainder are in storage.

The best known work on display at the museum is Las Meninas by Velázquez. Velázquez not only provided the Prado with his own works, but his keen eye and sensibility was also responsible for bringing much of the museum's fine collection of Italian masters to Spain.

Rates of Prado Museum			Schedule
General Admission	7€		From Tuesday to Sunday: 9.00 - 20. 00 h	Closed Every Monday (including holidays)
50% discount with student card	3’5€		Box Office Hours. 9.00 - 19.30 h. Access to the Museum until 30 minutes before closing (the exhibition of the rooms 10 minutes before closing)
General Admission + copy of the Guide Prado, €	19.50€

More info in: http://www.museodelprado.es/en/

Thyssen Museum.

 

The Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, is the second largest private collection in the world after the British Royal Collection, includes Impressionists, Expressionists, and European and American paintings from the second half of the 20th century, with over 1,600 paintings. 

 

Rates of Thyssen Museum			Shedule
General admission	8€		From Tuesday to Sunday	10.00 to 19.00.
			Closed Mondays.
			The ticket office closes at 18.30.

More info in:  http://www.museothyssen.org/thyssen/home

Museum Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.

Location:

13 Alcala st. MADRID

The Academy houses an important museum, reopened in 1986, which contains more than 1,400 paintings, 600 sculptures and 15,000 drawings, as well as an outstanding collection of decorative arts. The permanent collection includes masterpieces of Spanish, Italian and Flemish art. Goya was a member of the Academy from 1780 onwards, and the Museum holds 13 of his paintings, including two Self-portraits, the Bullfight, the portraits of Moratín, Juan de Villanueva and the actress La Tirana, and the famous carnival scene known as the Burial of the Sardine. Among other works in the Museum’s permanent collection are the Agnus Dei and Mercedarian Friars by Zurbarán; a Mary Magdalene by Ribera, signed in 1636; the only painting by Arcimboldo held in Spain; the Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice, signed by Leandro Bassano; the splendid Knight’s Dream by Pereda; the Old Testament scene of Susannah and the Elders by Rubens; the Marquesa de Llano by Mengs; and the Venus, Mercury and Cupid, painted by Van Loo in 1748. The 19th century in Spanish art is represented by a series of portraits by Vicente López, the magnificent portrait of Manuel Godoy, Prince of the Peace by José de Madrazo or the Portrait of Isabel II by Federico de Madrazo. Other movements, such as the Romanticism of Esquivel, are also represented, as well as other genres, such as the landscape paintings of Haes.

The 20th century is worthy of special attention, since it presents us with the work of modern members of the Academy, thus providing us with a general overview of contemporary art. In this way, all the artistic movements of the 20th century can be followed, from works by Sorolla and Cecilio Plá, the regionalism of Sotomayor, portraits by Vázquez Díaz, and landscapes by Benjamín Palencia and Lozano, through to the modern avant-garde movements.

The Museum also has on display an important collection of casts, such as the Gate of Paradise after Ghiberti, and many sculptures that allows us to follow the development of Spanish sculpture from the 17th century until today, through such extremely fine works as the Saint Bruno by Manuel Pereira or the Mater Dolorosa by Pedro de Mena; the portrait reliefs of Ferdinand VI and his queen Bárbara de Braganza by Gian Domenico Olivieri; the Portrait of Alfonso Clemente de Aróstegui by Felipe de Castro; Philip V on Horseback by Roberto Michel and Philip V on Horseback by Manuel Francisco Álvarez de la Peña; the series on the Massacre of the Innocents produced by José Ginés for Charles IV; the Portrait of Antonio Teixeira Lopes by Mariano Benlliure y Gil; Sensitiva by Miguel Blay; Head of a Woman by Picasso; and Academia by Pablo Gargallo.

The gallery rooms also display fine works purchased through the Guitarte Bequest. These include the Vanitas by Michel Bouillon, executed in 1668; the Self-portrait of Francisco Bayeu; the magnificent Still Life with Lemons by Juan de Zurbarán; the Head of Apollo attributed to Thorwaldsen; the Painter in his Studio by Magnasco; Cubist painting such as the Still Life with Fruit Bowl, Bottle and Newspaper by Juan Gris; and part of the collection of drawings by Picasso from the Suite Vollard.

Rates Royal Academy of San Fernando	Schedule
General Admission                     5€	Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 3pm Sundays and public holidays from 9am to 2.30pm Closed Mondays
Student Card                              50% discount
Free admission                    every Wednesday

For more information: http://rabasf.insde.es/