Madrid
May 31st, 2007 | 06:06 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 26,710
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Madrid
Here are some impressions from a trip in which I recently returned.
Madrid
Rastro
I am standing next to a framed poster of a toilet system. Sunday morning at El Rastro, an outdoor flea market, finds possibly a thousand vendors, that weaves in and around an area near the Plaza Mayor. It is the grandeur of junk, an old fashioned diving bell helmet sits on the ground waiting to be purchased and the pure practicality of inexpensive clothing, and the same sophomoric T-shirt humor found in English, now available in Spanish-Sex Instructor-First Lesson Free. Ramones T-shirts were also on sale at more than one stand.
You hear the gravelly voice of old Spanish men and women; others look like Uncle Junior, while the tragically hip look for the de rigor sunglasses. The tradition of El Rastro is 500 hundred years old and I think one of the original vendors is still selling socks.
It has a reputation for pickpockets which is countered by a large police presence.
Also on Sunday morning philatelists and numismatists gather at the Plaza Mayor where maybe 50 vendors sell stamps, money, and coins. There were a number of envelopes (called covers in English and sobres in Spanish) which were stamped censored after the Spanish Civil War. There were also mourning covers, bordered in black, which were sent in sympathy before stamps were used.
Seeking sanctuary I stopped in the Church of San Isidro, the patron saint of Madrid. It has beautiful terra cotta statuary and the reliquary of the saint and his wife. I am always skeptical of who is buried where. I was also curious who is attending Mass. No surprise the vast majority where over 55.
Had a decent meal behind the Plaza Mayor, with a very good gazpacho. When you are in the Plaza there is a statue. Follow the horse's behind and make a left.
Reina Sofia
The Museum is across the street from the busy Atocha Station. The building looks like an amalgam of different uses with the elevators added on the outside while the inside varies from an now enclosed cloister to an office building.
There are two floors of permanent exhibits the 2nd and 4th and both are Spanishcentric.
The 4th floor is filled with post war Spanish artist with a Motherwell thrown in. The second floor has the name brands-Picasso, Dali, Gris, Miro, occasionally interrupted by a Kandinsky, Magritte, or Tanguy. They do have an exceptional collection of photographs particularly Man Ray’s silver gelatins including those of his friends Bunel, Dali, and Andre Breton. There are also photos of the Spanish Civil War some which were taken by Robert Capa.
The Dalis remind us that he was a brilliant, inventive craftsman who added thoughtful and quirky touches. There are pieces from his twenties to his nineties. The later paintings demonstrate a simplicity toward his work,
The focal point of the museum is Guernica and the attendant studies. There is great controversary even now whether it should have been moved from an annex of the Prado. To me, this is a family fight. It remains one of the greatest pieces of art, an apologetic anti-war statement.
Other pieces I found interesting were:
Daniel Vazquez Diaz, La Fabrica Dormida (1925). It is at once both very industrial and dreamy.
Sculpture by Julio Lopez Hernandez, Pareja de Artesano (1965). It is older couple in front of a workbench filled with tools. It is made from wood, polyester and The detail of the faces, clothes, and tools is wonderful.
Eduardo Arroyo, Madrid-Paris-Madrid (1965). This is a two panel work which depicts the artist leaving Madrid as a clown returning to Madrid from Paris, as basically the same artist but personally more sophisticated. Very clever.
Thyssen
I went to the Thyssen Museum which is in a renovated palacio. The walls where the collection is hung are salmon colored (I guess they can turn into the world’s largest restaurant if things go bad.) The lighting is a combination of indirect natural lighting and electric. Those paintings that have glass have a glare. Although the collection is arranged chronologically, the works are laid out on both sides of a corridor with rooms off the corridor. You look like a drunk as you zig zag across the hall. I also lost track of what I saw in the rooms and did not see. The guards are always speaking in knots, so I think we can conspire to borrow a few paintings.
It is hard to believe that a family who started the collection in the 1920’s amassed so many pieces. They start in the 1300’s and proceed through the late 20th century. There are Dutch masters, impressionists, and a number of Americans including Sloan, Homer, and Copley. They seemed fond of the Hudson River School of art and befriended Lucian Freud.
Some of my favorites are:
Hugo Erfurth with Dog by Otto Dix (1913)
Carl Lee Schmidt by Oskar Kokoshka (1911)
Corner House by Ludwig Meidner (1913)
And the wittiness of Max Ernst
We can also blame Ferninad Bol for painting Young Man with Feather (1647)
It is probably the first known portrait of the idiotic pose that many writers are given to these days, with one finger across the chin and the rest of the fist supporting the chin.
There was also one called Reclining Nude Shepherdess by Berthe Morisot (1891). I may be wrong, but I think you see too many reclining naked shepherdesses.
I then went to Retiro Park. There was a classical orchestra rehearsing. They were playing familiar parts of famous pieces. I cannot remember all the names but you know the one that goes da-da-di-da. Well anyway. There was Pachelbel’s Canon, 1812 Overture, and Swan Lake. The played Swan Lake mighty fast and all I can think of is the dancers racing crazily around the stage.
I just ran down from the hotel room, it sounded like a parade or a fistfight outside. It was a sound truck blaring hip hop and Euro techno music. The DJ was speaking in English “Are you ready?”
I said no and returned to my room.
Madrid
Rastro
I am standing next to a framed poster of a toilet system. Sunday morning at El Rastro, an outdoor flea market, finds possibly a thousand vendors, that weaves in and around an area near the Plaza Mayor. It is the grandeur of junk, an old fashioned diving bell helmet sits on the ground waiting to be purchased and the pure practicality of inexpensive clothing, and the same sophomoric T-shirt humor found in English, now available in Spanish-Sex Instructor-First Lesson Free. Ramones T-shirts were also on sale at more than one stand.
You hear the gravelly voice of old Spanish men and women; others look like Uncle Junior, while the tragically hip look for the de rigor sunglasses. The tradition of El Rastro is 500 hundred years old and I think one of the original vendors is still selling socks.
It has a reputation for pickpockets which is countered by a large police presence.
Also on Sunday morning philatelists and numismatists gather at the Plaza Mayor where maybe 50 vendors sell stamps, money, and coins. There were a number of envelopes (called covers in English and sobres in Spanish) which were stamped censored after the Spanish Civil War. There were also mourning covers, bordered in black, which were sent in sympathy before stamps were used.
Seeking sanctuary I stopped in the Church of San Isidro, the patron saint of Madrid. It has beautiful terra cotta statuary and the reliquary of the saint and his wife. I am always skeptical of who is buried where. I was also curious who is attending Mass. No surprise the vast majority where over 55.
Had a decent meal behind the Plaza Mayor, with a very good gazpacho. When you are in the Plaza there is a statue. Follow the horse's behind and make a left.
Reina Sofia
The Museum is across the street from the busy Atocha Station. The building looks like an amalgam of different uses with the elevators added on the outside while the inside varies from an now enclosed cloister to an office building.
There are two floors of permanent exhibits the 2nd and 4th and both are Spanishcentric.
The 4th floor is filled with post war Spanish artist with a Motherwell thrown in. The second floor has the name brands-Picasso, Dali, Gris, Miro, occasionally interrupted by a Kandinsky, Magritte, or Tanguy. They do have an exceptional collection of photographs particularly Man Ray’s silver gelatins including those of his friends Bunel, Dali, and Andre Breton. There are also photos of the Spanish Civil War some which were taken by Robert Capa.
The Dalis remind us that he was a brilliant, inventive craftsman who added thoughtful and quirky touches. There are pieces from his twenties to his nineties. The later paintings demonstrate a simplicity toward his work,
The focal point of the museum is Guernica and the attendant studies. There is great controversary even now whether it should have been moved from an annex of the Prado. To me, this is a family fight. It remains one of the greatest pieces of art, an apologetic anti-war statement.
Other pieces I found interesting were:
Daniel Vazquez Diaz, La Fabrica Dormida (1925). It is at once both very industrial and dreamy.
Sculpture by Julio Lopez Hernandez, Pareja de Artesano (1965). It is older couple in front of a workbench filled with tools. It is made from wood, polyester and The detail of the faces, clothes, and tools is wonderful.
Eduardo Arroyo, Madrid-Paris-Madrid (1965). This is a two panel work which depicts the artist leaving Madrid as a clown returning to Madrid from Paris, as basically the same artist but personally more sophisticated. Very clever.
Thyssen
I went to the Thyssen Museum which is in a renovated palacio. The walls where the collection is hung are salmon colored (I guess they can turn into the world’s largest restaurant if things go bad.) The lighting is a combination of indirect natural lighting and electric. Those paintings that have glass have a glare. Although the collection is arranged chronologically, the works are laid out on both sides of a corridor with rooms off the corridor. You look like a drunk as you zig zag across the hall. I also lost track of what I saw in the rooms and did not see. The guards are always speaking in knots, so I think we can conspire to borrow a few paintings.
It is hard to believe that a family who started the collection in the 1920’s amassed so many pieces. They start in the 1300’s and proceed through the late 20th century. There are Dutch masters, impressionists, and a number of Americans including Sloan, Homer, and Copley. They seemed fond of the Hudson River School of art and befriended Lucian Freud.
Some of my favorites are:
Hugo Erfurth with Dog by Otto Dix (1913)
Carl Lee Schmidt by Oskar Kokoshka (1911)
Corner House by Ludwig Meidner (1913)
And the wittiness of Max Ernst
We can also blame Ferninad Bol for painting Young Man with Feather (1647)
It is probably the first known portrait of the idiotic pose that many writers are given to these days, with one finger across the chin and the rest of the fist supporting the chin.
There was also one called Reclining Nude Shepherdess by Berthe Morisot (1891). I may be wrong, but I think you see too many reclining naked shepherdesses.
I then went to Retiro Park. There was a classical orchestra rehearsing. They were playing familiar parts of famous pieces. I cannot remember all the names but you know the one that goes da-da-di-da. Well anyway. There was Pachelbel’s Canon, 1812 Overture, and Swan Lake. The played Swan Lake mighty fast and all I can think of is the dancers racing crazily around the stage.
I just ran down from the hotel room, it sounded like a parade or a fistfight outside. It was a sound truck blaring hip hop and Euro techno music. The DJ was speaking in English “Are you ready?”
I said no and returned to my room.
May 31st, 2007 | 11:31 AM
#4
Original Poster
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 26,710
Likes: 0
To SuzieCLL
Spain does not have the food of France or the antiquities of Italy, but it is clearly worth not one, but many trips. There are several cultures, languages, and histories that combine to make Spain. Madrid has the museums and it a wonderful spot from which to visit, Toledo, Cuenca, Salamanca, Segovia, etc. Barcelona has a sense of style and design that is unlike any another city. The BAsque county has its history which it shares with French Basque. And Galicia in the northwest corner has a strong Celtic and Portuguese influence.
For some reason, Americans have a singular impression of Spain which is limited.
Spain does not have the food of France or the antiquities of Italy, but it is clearly worth not one, but many trips. There are several cultures, languages, and histories that combine to make Spain. Madrid has the museums and it a wonderful spot from which to visit, Toledo, Cuenca, Salamanca, Segovia, etc. Barcelona has a sense of style and design that is unlike any another city. The BAsque county has its history which it shares with French Basque. And Galicia in the northwest corner has a strong Celtic and Portuguese influence.
For some reason, Americans have a singular impression of Spain which is limited.
