Museum Hopper

Get ready -- a lot more posts coming soon!  We just got back from a two week vacation in Spain, France, Italy.   As soon as we woke up from our post-red eye nap, we headed to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia .  The museum is now free on Sunday afternoons.   I went the last time I was in Madrid, I saw the Guernica by Picasso .  I really wanted Jason to see it.  We spent most of our time in the permanent exhibits section.  He really liked it.  Unfortunately, it is a room that they don't allow pictures in.  We stood at a few different angles to view the painting.  You notice different elements of the room depending on where you view it. Here are a few pictures of items that I found interesting: This museum also quite a few Salvador Dali paintings as well.   Even the second time through, I did struggle a bit with the thematic rooms.  The themes do not quite align to artistic styles...

I decided to run over to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reine Sofia Saturday afternoon while I was in Madrid.  It is very close to the hotel we stayed in and I really did want to see Picasso's Guernica , which is the highlight of their collection. The art museum has a number of temporary exhibits, but the main permanent collection is on the 2nd floor.  The museum is focused on themes like "From Revolt to Postmodernity" and "The Interruption of the 20th Century: Utopias and Conflicts."  I am not sure I completely understood the themes.  They seemed rather arbitrary given the chronological aspects as well.   The collection has some strong, stand-out masterpieces, of which Guernica is the star.  I had no idea it was so large (11 x ~26 ft).  The museum dedicated ample space to it, which was fantastic.  Given the size of the painting and the crowd looking at it, Guernica has a room to itself.  The materials to learn about the painting were...