Museo Reina Sofia

Rating:

Exceptional


The biggest house in Madrid the 20th century, the art collection including some of the best works of Piccasso and Dalí. It was a 18th century Hospital was beautifully remodeled and converted into a museum in 1992. In 2005 an extension was added designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. The official name is the National Museum Reina Sofia Art Center. As the Prado has filled the role of repository for traditional art in Madrid, the Reina Sofia, nicknamed the Moma of Madrid has provided for the wold of modern art; it is the greatest repository of 20th-century art in Spain. Set within the echoing, futuristically renovated wall of the former General Hospital originally built between 1776 and 1781. The Museum is a sprawling, high-ceilinged showplace named after the Greek born wife of Spain is present king. Once designated the ugliest building in Spain by Catalan architect Oriol Bohigas, the Reina Sofia has a design that hangs in limbo somewhere Between the 18th and the 21st centuries. It incorporates a 50,00 volume ar library and database, a cafe, a theater, a bookstore, Plexiglas-sided elevators and systems that calibrate security, temperature, humidity and the quality of light surrounding the exhibits. Special emphasis is paid to the great artists of 20th-century Spain; Juan Gris Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró  and Pablo Picasso (the museum has been able to acquire a rests at this museum after a long and troubled history of traveling. Banned in Spain during Franco era (Picasso refused to have it displayed the anyway), it hung until 1980 at New York Museum of Modern Art. The fiercely antiwar painting immortalizes the town shameful blanket bombig by the German Lufwaffe, fighting  for Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica was the cradle of the basque nation, and Picasso canvas made it a household name around the world. In 2008, the museum opened its roof terrace to the public from 10am to 9pm, allowing visitors hitherto unseen panoramic vistas of the city including the treetops of the Retiro Park. Dance performances and poetry reading evenings continue to be regular features here.

Type: Building

Year built:1992

Address: Calle de Santa Isabel, 52 28012

Area: Atocha

Phone:+34 917 74 10 00

email:[email protected]

Opening times:Mon, Wed-Sat 10am-21pm Tue- Closed, Sun- 10am-14:30pm

Author: Jose de Hermosilla, Francisco Sabatini

Style: Modern movement, Contemporary

Area of interest: Architecture, History

Services: Museum

http://www.museoreinasofia.es/