Gallery » EUROPE/AFRICA/ MIDDLE EAST » Round the World 2019 - Europe » Madrid 2019 » Sun, 4 Aug: Museo Reina Sofia
Sun, 4 August: We decided to visit the Museo Reina Sofia this afternoon. Ed went downstairs at 7:00A and arranged for us to take the hotel’s 12:00P shuttle to Puerta Alcala near Retiro Park. After enjoying a delicious breakfast (and yes, Ed had smoked salmon again), we were off to town. Given it was a Sunday, there was virtually no traffic so we arrived in town about 12:20P. It was very hot (again 35C). We had a leisurely walk through Retiro Park in the shade to reach the Museum. We also drank lots of water on the way. Thankfully, we only made one small wrong turn so we were at the entry at about 1:10P. Doors didn’t open till 1:30P but we were in the queue and were in the Museum at 1:35P after clearing security. We knew we didn’t have long to explore so we had specifics we decided to see.
We first went to the 4th floor to see items included in the exhibit “Is the War Over? Art in the Divided World (1945-1968)”. There were a lot of excerpts from black & white movies (most in Spanish) but one featured four people carrying posters of Bob Hope while one had a poster of Chairman Mao. It was a bit odd to say the least. The art work (to us) was pretty bleak so we didn’t stay long.
Next we moved to the 3rd floor to see the exhibit featuring Miriam Cahn entitled: “everything is equally important”. Ms. Cahn was born in 1949 in Basel, Switzerland. The exhibit featured her vibrantly colored works of later years as well as her early works from the 1970’s. Again we’re not as keen on contemporary art so we didn’t spend too much time in this exhibit.
We focused the balance of our visit on the works of David Wojnarowicz, an American artist (1954-1992). This collection of works was titled: “History Keeps Me Awake at Night”. We found his paintings to be very interesting and intriguing. In particular, we enjoyed his presentation of the elements: Fire, Water, Earth & Wind. These pieces were brightly painted and each had a unique, often angry and ominous perspective. We later went online to learn more about Wojnarowicz. We discovered that he had a tumultuous childhood, had endured mental abuse and that he graduated from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. He was an artist, a filmmaker and an advocate in the AIDS awareness campaign during the early 1980's. Wojnarowicz died in his Manhatten home on July 22, 1992. His partner, Tom Rauffenbart, confirmed he died from AIDS.
Unfortunately, we did not have to time to see the famous mural by Picasso, “Guernica” – one of the most famous holdings at the Museo. The queue time was unbelievable! So, we’ll save that for a future visit.
We left the Museum late in the afternoon and caught the nearby metro. We didn’t realize that our connecting station (Gran Via) was closed for renovations so we adapted at Line 10 and took it to the Alfonso Martinez station where we caught line 5 back to Osuna de Alameda. The latter is in a lovely residential area so we slowly walked through the neighborhood before we reached an uncovered area where we had to walk over the highway and then down a side road to return to The Hilton. It was hot but we did it.
We got back and our room was just being serviced (yes, that late in the day). So, to the Club we went for about 15 minutes then back to our room to clean-up just before happy hour. When we returned upstairs at 6:00P, Tania was smiling and waiting to help her guests.
