CHRISTMAS IN SPAIN: EXHIBITIONS THAT YOU HAVE TO SEE
Should you decide to spend you Christmas in Spain you will find a country transformed.
At this time of year, all the streets and shops here are decorated with coloured lights and Christmas trees, and the cities are filled with bustle and happiness.
Would you like to know which events are not to be missed, and everything that you can see? Take note 🙂
A NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN THYSSEN COLLECTION – A special selection of masterpieces on display in the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum is brought to the CaixaForum to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Madrid-based museum.
Divided into five genres (religious paintings, portraits, stills lifes, landscapes and urban landscapes), the exhibition is made up of 63 masterpieces, including eight paintings on loan in the National Art Museum of Catalonia.
From Nov 4, 2016 to Feb 5, 2017
CaixaForum, Barcelona
INFO: obrasociallacaixa.org
Francis Bacon. From Picasso to Velàzquez – The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents Francis Bacon. From Picasso to Velázquez, a temporary exhibition giving a new perspective on the work of the British artist and the influence of French and Spanish culture on his art.
The collection, with around 80 works, ranges from portraits and nudes to landscapes and bullfighting scenes. Visitors will have a chance to see paintings by the artist which are very rarely exhibited, together with works by other Spanish and French masters who influenced his career, such as Picasso and Degas.
From Sep 30, 2016 to Jan 8, 2017
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
INFO: www.guggenheim-bilbao
DALÍ, SHAKESPEARE, VISCONTI – The exhibition recalls Salvador Dalí’s participation in Shakespeare’s play ‘As You Like It’, directed by Luchino Visconti, produced in Rome in 1948.
In 1948 the film director Luchino Visconti commissioned Dalí to create the set designs for the play to boost publicity. The exhibition presents three original works by Dalí, 29 photographs and 7 related documents, including the luxury edition of the programme and a facsimile of a hand-written letter from Dalí to Visconti.
From 15-mar-2016 to 6-gen-2017
Casa-Museo Castello Gala Dalí di Púbol, Girona
INFO: www.salvador-dali.org
LOTHAR BAUMGARTEN. THE SHIP IS GOING UNDER, THE ICE IS BREAKING THROUGH – German artist Lothar Baumgarten presents one of his latest creations in the Reina Sofía Art Museum.
The sound piece has been specifically created for the unique architecture of the Crystal Palace, where the exhibition is housed. In fact, the artist aims to establish a dialogue with the building and this piece.
From Nov 3, 2016 to Apr 16, 2017
Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid
INFO: www.museoreinasofia
RENOIR AMONG WOMEN. FROM THE MODERN TO THE CLASSIC IDEAL. COLLECTIONS FROM THE MUSÉE D’ORSAY AND THE MUSÉE DE L’ORANGERIE – an innovative interpretation of the work by the French painter through his artistic treatment of women. Of the over 70 pieces comprising the exhibition, one of the Impressionist masterpieces stands out the most: ‘Bal du moulin de la Galette’.
The MAPFRE Foundation in Barcelona presents this exhibition which portrays various interpretations of Renoir’s feminine ideal: the loving mother, the cheerful young woman, the sophisticated Parisian woman, nudes and women with landscapes in the background… through paintings from the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie museums.
From Sep 17, 2016 to Jan 8, 2017
The MAPFRE Foundation in Barcelona
INFO: www.fundacionmapfre.org
SOROLLA IN PARIS – The international prestige of the Valencian painter throughout the different stages of his career is the focal point of this exhibition, organised by the Sorolla Museum in Madrid.
From his first trip to Paris to his definitive establishment as an artist, this collection displays the works that Sorolla brought to various European exhibitions -especially to the capital of France-, with which he aimed to gain himself the worldwide recognition that he always dreamed of. In this way, visitors will be able to follow his evolution as an artist, from his first social-themed works to his experiments with light and sea colours, and see how his works gradually adapted to the artistic styles that emerged in Europe in the 1900s.
From Nov 24, 2016 to Mar 19, 2017
INFO: www.mecd.gob.es
Velàzquez, Murillo – The Focus-Abengoa Foundation, in partnership with the Prado, presents this exhibition in Seville with 19 paintings by these two great artists, some of them from the National Gallery in London and the Louvre in Paris.
The exhibition explores the relationship between the painters, which was propitiated by the city of Seville, with nine works by Velázquez and ten by Murillo.
Although they were a generation apart, the exhibition shows how they were both educated in a cultured, open Seville, where painting was highly regarded by many.
From Nov 8, 2016 to Feb 28, 2017
Los Venerables Hospital, Siviglia
INFO: www.focus.abengoa.es
Exhibition 1937. On Gernika. War and civitas – With this exhibition, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum investigates the early years of Picasso’s mural, when it became a symbol of peace, paradoxically, through a narrative based on the cruelty of war.
The show, part of the ‘Peace Treaty’ project based on the depiction of non-violence in the History of Art, is organised in three sections. The first, ‘The Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition’, explains how the work was introduced to the public, while ‘Picasso and Guernica’ concentrates entirely on the painting, showing how it was created, and the process that led to it. The final section, ‘The Influence of Guernica’, gathers international works and artists who related to the painting in some way, such as Jackson Pollock and Jorge Oteiza.
From Oct 30, 2016 to Jan 9, 2017
Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts
INFO: www.museobilbao.com