For the last activity of the UA in Spain faculty-led program, we took a trip to the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid. Last week we visited the Prado Museum with 17th, 18th, and older century styled artwork, but the Reina Sofia is a contemporary modern art museum. It was interesting to see the change in styles, different artists, and depictions in paintings relating to the historical context of Spain in their time. Just by approaching the museum, it looked like a grand building with glass elevators and many people waiting to go inside and see the artwork.
With a guided tour of the museum through the university we’re studying at in Madrid, we got to see and hear the history of many pieces done by Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris. The museum wasn’t too crowded, so it was nice to be able to walk around, take pictures, and learn about twentieth century art in Spain.
We mainly stayed on the second floor to look at work by Picasso and Gris’, two talented modern artists who featured cubism in a large part of their work throughout their careers. It was interesting to hear about another well-known artist known for cubism, besides Picasso, and seeing the progression of Gris’ paintings was very fascinating. It was also nice to see some of Picasso’s other pieces that don’t really get featured as much.
This museum was beautiful and a bit more tailored to my interests with the modern art, and I enjoyed looking at the statues, walking around the bookstore, and learning more about Spain!
