Gallery sights in Spain
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Open Air Gallery, Museo Guggenheim
One of the joys of the Guggenheim experience is to take a quiet wander around the outside of the building, appreciating the extraordinary imagination behind its design and catching the different colours reflected by the titanium tiles, limestone and glass. Lying between the glass buttresses of the central atrium and Ría de Bilbao is a simple pool of water that emits at intervals a mist 'sculpture' by Fuyiko Nakaya.
Nearby on the riverbank is a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois, a skeletal canopy representing a spider entitled Maman, said to represent a protective embrace.
In the open area to the west of the museum a fountain sculpture fires off jets of water into the air rand…
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Museo del Prado
Converted in 1819 from a natural history museum to a repository of Spanish art held in royal collections, the Museo del Prado hosts over 7000 works. The strongest collections are the 17th- and 18th-century Spanish paintings on the 1st floor, featuring the likes of Velázquez, Goya and da Ribera.
The building in which it is housed is itself a masterpiece. Completed in 1785, the neo-Classical Palacio de Villanueva served as a cavalry barracks for Napoleon's troops during their occupation of Madrid between 1808 and 1813. In 1814, King Fernando VII decided to use the palace as a museum for the royal collections and five years later the Museo del Prado opened with 311 Spanish…
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Dalí Escultor
One of the best things about this collection is its superb location in the Reial Cercle Artístic (Royal Art Circle) building just near La Catedral. This somewhat hyped display offers 60-odd little-known sculptures by a man who was largely renowned for his paintings. Documents, sketches and photos by and of the artist complete the picture. If you can’t visit his museum-mausoleum in Figueres, this is no substitute, but does provide some clues to the life and work of the mustachioed maestro.
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CaixaForum
The Caixa building society prides itself on its involvement in (and ownership of) art, in particular all that is contemporary. Its premier art expo space in the city hosts part of the bank’s extensive collection from around the globe. The setting is a completely renovated former factory, the Fàbrica Casaramona, an outstanding Modernista brick structure designed by Puig i Cadafalch. From 1940 to 1993 it housed the First Squadron of the police cavalry unit – 120 horses in all.
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Centro José Guerrero
The Centro José Guerrero is dedicated to the most celebrated artist to come out of Granada - abstract expressionist José Guerrero (1914-91), who was born in the city but found fame in New York in the 1950s. The centre exhibits good temporary shows as well as a permanent collection of Guerrero's dramatic and colourful canvases. It's well worth a visit. Located just along the street from La Madraza (in the university).
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Fundació Foto Colectania
Photography lovers should swing by here to see the latest exhibition; they change over about three times a year. When you reach what seems like offices, head through to the back on the ground floor, where two floors of exhibition space await. What you see may come from the foundation’s own collection of Spanish and Portuguese snappers from the 1950s on, but more likely will be temporary exhibitions of other work.
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La Lonja
Now an exhibition hall, this finely proportioned Renaissance-style building, the second building east of the basilica, was constructed in the 16th century as a trading exchange. The coloured medallions on its exterior depict kings of Aragón, but the soaring columns rising to an extraordinary ceiling are the standout features. La Lonja is the site for a full calendar of temporary exhibitions.
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Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
Behind Macba, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona is a complex of auditoriums and exhibition halls created in the early 1990s from an 18th-century hospice. The big courtyard, with a vast glass wall on one side, is spectacular. Exhibitions are held here regularly. Admission is free from 8pm Thursdays and from 3pm Sundays and on the first Wednesday of the month.
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Fundació Joan Brossa
Pop into this basement gallery to get an insight into the mind of one of the city’s cultural icons, Joan Brossa, a difficult-to-classify mix of poet, artist, theatre man, Catalan nationalist and all-round visionary. You’ll see a panoply of objects of art (like Porró amb Daus, a typical Spanish wine decanter with dice), followed by samples of his visual poems.
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Palacio de la Aduana
The Palacio de la Aduana is set to become the permanent home of the city’s museum, but not until 2012. Art exhibitions have been suspended, but meanwhile you can marvel at one of Andalucía’s largest and most magnificent patios, and take shelter from the sun under glossy, broad-leafed plants.
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
Beret-and-smock types can happily overdose in this town. The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo has galleries spread over four floors within the former San Clemente convent. Spanish and international artists are represented in a mixed bag of mainly abstract paintings and sculptures.
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Museo Julio Romero de Torres
A former hospital houses what is, surprisingly enough, Córdoba’s most visited museum, the Museo Julio Romero de Torres, devoted to revered local painter Julio Romero de Torres (1873–1930). Romero de Torres specialised in sensual yet sympathetic portraits of Cordoban women.
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Galería Multiple
Showcasing painters and photographers of the highest standing (Pablo Palazuelo, Eduardo Arroyo and Eduardo Chillida have recently held exhibitions here and their work is available for viewing upon request), Galería Multiple is one of our favourite contemporary Madrid galleries.
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Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró
Inland from the waterfront is a major art stop, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró. Top Spanish architect Rafael Moneo designed the main building in 1992, next to the studio in which Miró had thrived for decades. With 2500 works by the artist (including 100 paintings), along with memorabilia, it's a major collection.
No doubt influenced by his Mallorquin wife and mother, Miró moved to Palma in 1956 and remained there until his death in 1983. His friend, the architect Josep Lluís Sert, designed the studio space for him above Cala Major.
A selection of his works hangs in the Sala Estrella, an angular, jagged part of Moneo’s creation that is the architect’s take on the arti…
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Galería Moriarty
You know a street has the ultimate mark of approval when Galería Moriarty moves in. One of the cultural focal points of la movida madrileña in the 1980s, it still draws a cutting-edge catalogue of international and local artists.
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Capella Macba
The renovated 400-year-old Convent dels Àngels houses the Capella Macba, where the Macba regularly rotates selections from its permanent collection. The Gothic framework of the one-time convent-church remains intact.
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Barrio del Pópulo
Between Plaza San Juan de Dios and the cathedral is the Barrio del Pópulo, the kernel of medieval Cádiz and a focus of the city's recent spruce-up programme, now sporting several craft shops and galleries.
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Casa Natal de Picasso
Casa Natal de Picasso, Picasso's birthplace, is a centre for exhibitions and academic research on contemporary art, with a few compelling items of personal memorabilia and a well-stocked shop.
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Galería Antonio Machón
A delightful gallery dedicated primarily to painters with the occasional sculpture, the Galería Antonio Machón has hosted names as varied as Chema Chobo, Laura Lio and Gerardo Delgado.
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Museo de Bellas Artes
In the same building as the Museo Julio Romero de Torres is the Museo de Bellas Artes, which exhibits Cordoban artists’ work from the 14th to the 20th century.
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Cristóbal Benitez Arte Africano
For something a little different and anything but contemporary, this gallery of antique African art is quite extraordinary and a must for anyone with a love of Africa.
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Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporáneo
Spread over two floors, this rich collection (mostly paintings, along with some photography) showcases Spanish art from the 1920s until the present.
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Annta Gallery
Spread over two levels, this gallery has painting, sculpture and photography exhibitions, although recent offerings have tended towards the latter.
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Centre d’Art Santa Mònica
The Convent de Santa Mònica was a monastery converted into an art gallery and cultural centre, the Centre d’Art Santa Mònica.
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Museo de Bellas Artes
Museo de Bellas Artes is worth a visit for its impressive collection of Granada-related paintings and sculptures.
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