From Picasso to Joan Miró, Musement shares eight unforgettable that artworks you must see at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.
The Reina Sofía National Museum in Madrid houses several modern art masterpieces. Here are eight you shouldn’t miss.
1. Guernica, Pablo Picasso, 1937
One of the most iconic pieces by the brilliant Spanish painter, this painting in shades of grey, white, and black represents a Spanish Civil War tragedy: the bombing of its titular small town in northern Spain. Its dimensions, nearly 12-feet long, as well as the absence of color, make it a truly overwhelming piece.
2. La table du musicien (The Musician’s Table), by Juan Gris, 1926
This piece, representative of the artist’s predilection for musical instruments and objects of that ilk, is a beautiful oil painting that forces us to contemplate with serenity. Juan Gris is one of the masters of Cubism, and the Reina Sofia Museum is home to several of his works.
3. Visage du Grand Masturbateur (Face of the Great Masturbator), Salvador Dalí, 1929
This painting is characterized by twisted, evocative forms among a desolate landscape with a clear horizon that is emblematic of Dalí. He painted this during his first days with Gala, the one who would become his new and unconditional muse for the rest of his life. The image shows how the artist has represented himself several times, in scenes that are taking place simultaneously, while everything revolves around a peculiar rock in Cap de Creus in which he thought he had guessed his face.
4. Blau amb quatre barres rogues (Blue with four red bars) , Antoni Tàpies, 1966
The piece, conceived by one of the most outstanding Catalan artists, is a faithful reflection of the particular style that characterized him. Tàpies, an exponent of informalism, experimented with textures, earthly and improvised materials, in a palette of colors that always transmits a certain serenity. He did not hesitate to use poor, even waste materials, giving them a new life that went beyond styles and concepts, mixing techniques and textures, to create his own peculiar character.
5. Cartes et dés (Cards and Dice), Georges Braque, 1914
Cubism has the capacity to capture its spectators, making them travel through its sometimes impossible forms and edges. This piece has the particularity of having been painted just before the outbreak of the First World War, when Braque and Picasso were following, artistically, very similar paths. After the war, the two artists evolved towards different paths. In this work, in which everything represented revolves around the world of games of chance, volumes of great complexity are shown, including the use of different materials that the artist employed in search of that effect that seduces the viewer.
6. Totalisateur (Totaliser), Francis Picabia, 1922
This multidisciplinary artist traveled from impressionism to surrealism, through cubism, Dadaism and the fascinating Dada movement. In this work Picabia plays with geometric abstraction, polishing his style until he achieves that particularity that makes him such a valued artist. In this piece he speaks to us through a formal language, taken from mechanics and machinery, without leaving aside sexual symbolism.
7. Peinture (Escargot, femme, fleur, étoile) (Painting [Snail, Woman, Flower, Star]) , Joan Miró, 1934
In this piece, the artist reveals his emotional state through grotesque figures and a certain monstrosity. He was worried about the convulsive times in Europe, conveying anguish at first glance. Miró’s work, which was once marked by naivety, light, and childishness, has changed its chromaticism but remains one of the artist’s most exceptional works, full of lyricism.
8. Contre le fonctionnalisme idéaliste. Against Idealistic Functionalism. , Brassaï, 1933
This photograph, positioned in gelatin-bromide on paper, shows an instant captured by the Hungarian photographer. His work attempts to immortalize beauty from a distinct perspective. In this case, the image can inspire different interperations, each marked by a reflective and earthy title.