Modern art in Spain & Portugal
 

My husband and I are big fans of modern art and will be in Barcelona, Madrid and central Portugal this winter. We'll definitely hit the major modern art museums, but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for good galleries, winter exhibits, events or even noteworthy street art in those areas?

Thanks for any ideas!

Hi, slangevar,

I think the best source for galleries and exhibits, street fairs, etc. in Lisbon is the monthly "cultural agenda." It's online at http://www.agendalx.pt/cgi-bin/iportal_agendalx

I think it's only in Portuguese, but it's pretty easy to follow. For art exhibits, click on "exposicoes", which you can narrow further by "pintura" (painting) -- there are other tabs for design, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, etc. For stuff going on outside, click on "ar livre".

If you get stuck, I'm happy to try to help. Laurie

I assume you know about CaixaForum in Barcelona & Madrid; as well as CCCB in Barcelona?

http://www.fundacio.lacaixa.es/
http://www.cccb.org/ca/

Also assuming you know about the Berardo Museum in Belem, in Lisbon? It is only two years old so may not be in your guidebooks.

When visiting Madrid plan a trip to Cuenca. The location is spectacular and the colelction unusual. Here is a URL, so yo
decide whether it fits your tastes.
http://www.march.es/arte/ingles/cuenca/index.asp

In Lisbon, check out MetroLisboa: each Metro line (linea) has a design theme (links are from MetroLisboa homepage). http://www.metrolisboa.pt

Back in '98, when Expo'98 was being readied, I did a Photo Essay (unpublished) on the new linea Oriente that connects central Lisbon with the Expo'98 site. The Metro stations are works of art, not to be missed.

Thank you so much for the great replies! I'm embarrassed to say that we knew none of these, so you've all contributed something to our itinerary - THANK YOU!

Laurie - the cultural agenda looks great! And you're right - it's easier to use than I expected.

yk - I'd heard the name "CaixaForum," but didn't know anything about it or CCCB - they look brilliant! What a gorgeous building.

Nikki - We know zero about Lisbon since we just added it to our trip, so this is a big help. I'm looking through the collection online and it looks great!

Aduchamp1 - Arg... we opted to see central Portugal instead of spending more time around central Spain, so we'll have to see Cuenca next time. But it's gorgeous! I'm definitely adding it to my list.

NEDSIRELAND - GREAT idea! I just looked up the Lisbon metro on Flickr and you're right - the stations are amazing! What great colors.

Thanks to all of you!! If you have any other ideas, please keep them coming!

slangevar, when you wrote "modern art" - I don't know if you mean modern art or contemporary art. Caixa Forum and CCCB are more contemporary instead of modern. In Barcelona, there's also the MACBA. http://www.macba.cat/controller.php

And I assume you also know about Fundació Miró? http://fundaciomiro-bcn.org/

Depending how many museums you go in Barcelona, you may benefit from the ArticketBCN: http://www.articketbcn.org/en/

And if you like Catalan <i>Modernisme</i>, don't forget to check out <i>Ruta del Modernisme</i>. See this
http://www.rutadelmodernisme.com/default.aspx?idioma=en
and
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ar-with-it.cfm

yk - sorry, we're a bit loose with our art terms. :-) We're actually fans of many modern and contemporary artists (including some of the street muralists of today). So all of your suggestions are right up our alley! Especially the Modernisme Route in Barcelona... I hadn't heard of that, but we'll definitely pick up the guidebook. Sounds like a great way to really see some of Barcelona's unique architecture.

Thank you!

slangevar, I'm going to Barcelona next month, and plan to visit many of the <i>Modernisme</i> sites plus several art museums. You can look for my trip report when I return. I'm pretty good at writing my TRs promptly, though I must warn you that they tend to be very long and verbose!

yk - That sounds great! I'll definitely look out for it. And I'm a writer, so I love long and verbose. :-)

If in Porto, go to the Fundação de Serralves (Museu de Arte Contemporânea)

Hi Michael - the FdS looks really interesting! I wish the "ONE SIZE, ONE CONCEPT, NUMEROUS IDEAS" show was extending into our trip... it looks right up our alley, but usually where's there one good exhibit, there's more.

Thank you!

The museum is housed in a contemporary building (nice restaurant for lunch, but don't miss the original Art Deco mansion and its take on the formal French garden. At the end of the Porto pictures you will find a few pictures of the grounds and the museum:

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/...6?source=pw980

I'll second Michael's recommendation on the Fundacao de Serralves. The grounds are lovely, the mansion is in a beautiful setting, lots of nice walking trails. I did not find the collection to be a show-stopper, but maybe that's just a reflection of my ignorance about contemporary art.

And when I was there, there was some huge legal hassle involving the gift store's alleged sale of jewelry of unstamped (and hence un-tax-paid) silver and/or gold. The police came, confiscated inventory and shut the place down. Not sure what's going on now or whether it has had any repercussions for the museum itself.

Laurie

There is a book called Artsites. They have one for Spain and Portugal. I bought it on Amazon. My husband loves ther series. We used it for Italy and Spain.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Lisboa. We saw the new building of the Mude ( Museo do Design e da Moda ), in the Rua Augusta. They are showing a preview of the collection "From Le Corbusier to Alaia", and it is quite interesting. The building was formerly a bank, Caixa Geral if I am not wrong, and between the architecture, the two Balenciagas and the Galliano ...

Also, in Cascais, you can visit the Casa de las Historias. Right now it has an exhibition dedicated to Paula Rego and the entrance is free.

Rgds, Cova

milliebest - that book looks interesting! I'm surprised I haven't seen it yet... I'll have to look for it the next time I'm in a bookstore.

Cova - thank you for the recommendations! I really appreciate info on current exhibits.