CENTRO DE ARTE REINA SOFIA

This former hospital, built in 1776 by Francisco Sabatini during the reign of Carlos III, is now Madrid's main museum of contemporary art. Two exterior glass elevators were added to the building in 1992. In September 2005, a new wing designed by architect Jean Nouvel was inaugurated. It houses temporary exhibition rooms, a library, a 450-seat auditorium and two lecture theatres.
The museum's permanent collection spans the period from the late ^19th to the ^21st century, and is divided between the second and fourth floors. The work of Pablo Picasso is particularly prominent. And the real star of the museum is the masterpiece Guernica. It depicts the bombing of the Basque village of Guernica-Lumo by German aircraft at the start of the Spanish Civil War. It was exhibited in several European cities before being kept at the Museum of Modern Art in New York until 1981. In accordance with Picasso's wishes, Guernica did not cross the Atlantic again until democracy was restored. It was transferred from the Casón del Buen Retiro to the Reina Sofía in 1992. Other Picasso masterpieces are on display, as well as paintings by Dalí and Miró. You'll discover the first modern Spanish works: the dark works of Madrid-born Gutiérrez Solana(Tertulia del Café del Pombo, 1920); the "black" Spain of Basques Regoyos or Zuloaga or the vivid colors of Catalan Anglada Camarasa. The Cubist and Surrealist movements are represented by Juan Gris, María Blanchard, Oscar Domínguez and Dalí, among others. Room 16 features a fine collection of Spanish sculpture, with works by Pablo Gargallo, Angel Ferrant, Leandro Cristófol and Joan Miró. The fourth floor is devoted to post-war art, with artists from the School of Paris (Vazquez Díaz, Pancho Cossío...), abstraction from the 1950s and 1960s (el Paso group, Antoni Tàpies, Chillida, Palazuelo), minimal art and the latest artistic trends from Spain and elsewhere (Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Elena Asins, Soledad Sevilla). The Palacio de Velázquez and the Palacio de Cristal, which can be visited in the heart of Retiro Park, are annexes to the Reina Sofia.

In 2024, the museum will host a number of temporary exhibitions, including "Picasso 1906. La gran transformación" until March, and retrospectives on Ben Shahn (until February) and José García Tella (until February).