Spain 2016 - Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and Parque de el Retiro

I woke to blue skies this morning even though there was more rain in the forecast (it didn't materialize). Decided on a full desayuno this morning and had eggs, bacon, toast and coffee to fuel me for another day of art.

Madrid isn't like Barcelona architecturally, generally it seems to take itself very seriously (it is the Capitol after all) but every now and then there is a striking building. This one is one Plaza Santo Ana just behind my hotel and on the way down to the galleries.

The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza is a pretty unobtrusive building itself. Its the low brown one to the right of the white Palace Hotel.

Takes its flowers seriously though.

My Art Pass got me into the main gallery which is a private collection, acquired from the Thyssen-Bornemisza family by the Spanish State. I had to pay extra to see the Wyeth exhibit but I am glad I did, I loved it.
So, just like yesterday, I am going to post some of the pictures that interested me, in no logical or orderly fashion.

I started on the lowest floor which is the most modern paintings (they advise you to work from the top down, oldest to newest, oh well). This is "Position of mobile graphics Element 1".Frantisek Kupka, 1912-13.

"Study for the language of verticals". Frantisek Kupka, 1911. It wasn't until right now, posting them, that I realized they were by the same artist. I can see a future rug in this one.

There were plenty of famous artists represented. This is a detail from "Dream caused by the flight of a bee around a pomegranate a second before waking up". Salvador Dali. 1944.

"Solitary and Conjugal trees". Max Ernst. 1942.

I love this ultra realistic style. "People's Flowers". Richard Estes. 1971. I had more trouble in this gallery with glare. I am not sure if it was because there was a lot of natural light coming in from above or because of the way they were lit artificially but I often found it difficult to get a picture without glare off the glass or oils.

Another Richard Estes. "Telephone Booths". 1967

Next floor up and I am into the older stuff. Love the angles and how bright the church is in the background. "Church Interior" Peeter Neeffs 1, 1615-16.

In this detail you can just see the shadow where he decided to put the dog farther to the right. "The interior of the Burgomasters' Council Chamber in the Amsterdam Town Hall".Pieter Hendricksz de Hooch. 1661-70.

The rooms were organized so that all of one genre and time period was together ie landscapes or portraits.  "Mountain landscape with a castle". Roelandt Savery 1609.

Unlike Reine Sophia, where all the walls were white, here they were a sort of ochre colour, easier on the eyes.

"Woman with a Parasol in a garden". Pierre-Auguste Renoir. 1873

I am reading a book, a novel, about Georgia O'Keefe, (by Dawn Tripp) and last night I was reading about the period of time she spent in New York. This is "New York with moon" Georgia O'Keefe. 1925.

Van Gogh, Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Kadinsky I will spare you.

This reminded me of the waves that form as we sail out of Port Dover. "The "Martha McKeen" of Wellfleet". Edward Hopper. 1944.

Never seen anything like this by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec before. "The Jockeys". 1882.

"Ships". Lyonel Feininger. 1917.

On the top floor it was a lot of dark, religious paintings. Some Dutch and Flemish, mostly dark landscapes and portraits. I pretty well did a walk through.

But just look at the expression on this bulls face; licking his lips, drooling. Its a detail from "The rape of Europa". Simon Vouet. 1640.

Downstairs again I paid to go into the temporary exhibit "Wheyth: Andrew and Jamie in the Studio." Andrew Wyeth was the son of a renown illustrator and Jamie was his son. Each were famous artists in their own right and this was an examination of their styles and philosophies. Both believed that you had to know your subject and usually painted landscapes, people or animals close to them. Jamie liked to paint things a little more unusual. He did a series of portraits of Andy Warhol and a series in which the seven deadly sins were illustrated using seagulls.

They lived and worked in Brandywine Valley in Pennsylvania and spent every summer painting on Monhegan Island in Maine. Heather, Don, Judy and I were there last fall. Thomaston, where we stayed, was even on the map on the wall of the gallery.

I spent 3 hours in this one and I was all art galleried out. Not wanting to spend any more time indoors I walked to Parque de el Retiro which is a huge park on the other side of the Prado.

There are lots of entrances, all with impressive gates.

The area I first walked into was manicured and

and sculptured. I sat on a bench near here, in the sun, and ate my granola bar, apple and some dates. It was cooler than it has been in southern Spain but still nice enough to sit outside.

Off the main paths are little pathways and mature trees, almost woodland in some areas.

Statue where a number of paths intersect called "Angel Caido" (The fallen angel)

Nasty looking creatures around the base.

I sat and had a glass of wine and sketched him.

Rather fun, the statue itself, in such bright sunlight, was basically black and white.

I knew there were supposed to be some buildings in the park and I had been walking around for about an hour with no sign of them (literally; there were no signposts anywhere) so I asked the waiter who smiled and pointed in a direction and gestured that it was sort of a wriggly route. No kidding!

Following that wriggly route I found the Palacio de Cristal.

Sleeping duck. I had to sneak in a bird picture.

They have free exhibitions here but unfortunately they were just dismantling the last one (taking down hanging bones??) and the next one doesn't start for a few days. Beautiful tile, metal and glass building though.

The Palacio de Valazquez was open and had a free art exhibit but it was weird and I really didn't get it.

I was on a roll now; I found the Monumento Alphonso XII

with lots of young people sunning themselves and rowing on the man made lake. This is the first light hearted thing I have found in Madrid. In the park there have been a lot of serious runners and people walking their dogs (intent on their phones) but here there was laughter and splashing and calling out to each other.

The lions are not amused. I wonder if Alphonso, up so high on his horse, has a serious look or not.

When I had the tour of the bullring in Seville one of the things the tour guide talked about was the training to be a bullfighter. She said that before ever dealing with a live animal, trainees use a pair of horns and replicate the bulls movements in practice sessions. They have to think like the bull and they have to get used to the very heavy weight of the cape.

Finding my way out of the park I came across 3 guys, practicing.

It looks like a heavy cape.

This shot is for Christine. Madrid has Car2go.

By now it was about 5 and I was dragging. I again decided to forget trying to keep to the Spanish meal schedule (I couldn't wait til 8 to eat) and found a place for supper.

These are Pinchos, Northern Spain's answer to Tapas. Aimee and I got into them in Barcelona last year. They are set out on the bar and you choose. They are all the same price and the waiter just counts the number of sticks on your plate to know what you owe.

I started with these. The one in the cup is Samorejo a tomato, garlic, olive oil and bread, pureed, cold soup. This one had a cherry tomato and slice of ham stuck in it. The nearest one is smoked salmon, mayonnaise and potato on bread with grilled red pepper and anchovies on top. The other is an egg, mayonnaise and lime mixture on bread topped with very thinly sliced peppers and onion that has been marinated in something delicious that I couldn't identify. I had another smoked salmon one and a dessert one (it was sort of a cross between a brownie and a butter tart, square) With a glass of wine it cost me under 8 Euro. (less than $12)