Museo Thyssen Bornemisza

...you ever get there, the Museo Thyssen Bornesmisza could be THE place to get you interested in painting, maybe for the first time.

I am writing this review for those of you who until now probably couldn't care less about the fine arts, let alone paintings. Maybe you have regarded the interest in arts to be pseudo intellectual, or too difficult to get into, or you have just been turned away by one of these dark and pompous works by an ...
...not.

The Museo Thyssen Bornemisza invites you to take a fresh approach at viewing paintings. Everything about this museum and its collection is light - the open architecture of the Palacio de Villahermosa, the natural daylight in the main hall and in every room, the warm and sunny colours of the walls, and of course the exhibits themselves.

Before I take you on a guided tour, here is some basic information on the museum ... more

You may not want to go all the way to Madrid to visit an arts museum, but should you ever get there, the Museo Thyssen Bornesmisza could be THE place to get you interested in painting, maybe for the first time.

I am writing this review for those of you who until now probably couldn't care less about the fine arts, let alone paintings. Maybe you have regarded the interest in arts to be pseudo intellectual, or too difficult to get into, or you have just been turned away by one of these dark and pompous works by an old Flamish master.

If you are already an expert, you may find something new in this review, though probably not much - but this opinion adresses the 95% of the population who are not.

The Museo Thyssen Bornemisza invites you to take a fresh approach at viewing paintings. Everything about this museum and its collection is light - the open architecture of the Palacio de Villahermosa, the natural daylight in the main hall and in every room, the warm and sunny colours of the walls, and of course the exhibits themselves.

Before I take you on a guided tour, here is some basic information on the museum itself, and how it fits into the arts scene of Madrid. You may want to skip this part and jump directly to the tour below.

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The Thyssen Bornemisza is one of three museums in Madrid's "Triangle of Fine Arts". The other two are the famous Museo del Prado and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.

The Prado covers mainly Spanish Painting up to the so called "Golden Aera" (17th Century), which is represented by such painters as Goya and Velázquez. This is exactly what you DON'T want to see on your first introduction to paintings. Simply speaking, it's the same old stuff which you have already learned to hate: dark landscapes, fat women, and clerical scenes. If you're not really into this and don't have to boast to your friends about having been at the Prado, then you may well enjoy your weekend trip to Madrid without ever bothering about the Prado.

If you go to the second flour of the Thyssen Bornemisza, which I have left out of my tour on purpose, you get an idea of what awaits you in the Prado. (The 2nd floor covers Italian Renaissance and Post-Renaissance paintings.)

The Reina Sofia is mainly a collection of Spanish 20th Century art which includes both paintings and sculptures. It contains such famous artists as Dalí, Picasso and Miró. The exhibits there are a lot more accessible to the beginner than those at the Prado. I personally regard a visit to Reina Sofia the logical continuation of the Thyssen Bornemisza. I am also planning to post an opinion on the Reina Sofia soon.

Now you should understand why I recommend to visit the Thyssen Bornemisza first: its collection is most accessible to the novice. There are only two other museums in Europe which I could recommend for the same reason: the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Let's begin the tour.

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This may come as a surprise, but we start with the museum shop. They have done a great job at merchandising, and it may stir your imagination: "Wouldn't this poster of a blue pony and a pink lady go well with our green sofa?" or "I would like to have that T-shirt with the blue and yellow picture of Waterloo Bridge!" You get the idea. Now you can approach the tour with an open mind.

My tour covers only a fraction of the collection. I'm focussing on the part which deals with REALISM. Realism? Unlike Idealism, Realism shows the visible and natural in this world. It contains such schools of painting as Impressionism and Expressionism (we will get to that in a moment).

Let's go to the first floor and pass by the Dutch 17th Century painters (Urgh!) and the Rokoko period. Our first stop is room 29: North American Art, 19th Century. Sounds okay. (From here on, just follow the room numbers in serial order.)

Most of the paintings here are examples of the ROMANTIC period, ie. pictures of landscapes and people capturing "perfect moments". This compares to taking your boyfriend/girlfriend on a walk in the sunset. Towards the end of the century, the style becomes more critical, even cynical, and adds illusionary elements to reality. Example: "Tom's River" by Peto.

Next stop, European Painting, 19th Century. The same again about Romanticism which turns realistic at the end, but without getting critical. That means: landscapes and people in their normal state, without the "Sunday afternoon effect".

This development culminated in IMPRESSIONISM at the end of the 19th century. Impressionism seeks to capture a short moment of reality, for example a cathedral in a special morning light which only lasts half an hour (a short impression). Unlike in previous periods, when paintings took weeks or months until completion, the impressionist works were created in only a few hours. Thus the technique was anything but elaborate, and impressionism was not accepted as fine art by the establishment at the time.

The museum is full of examples of Impressionist painting by all the famous artists. Manet, Monet, Pissarro and Renoir have applied this technique to buildings and landscapes, whereas Degas used it on people. The most famous examples here are probably "Rue Saint Honoré on a rainy afternoon" by Pissarro and "The floating dancer" by Degas.

A late form of Impressionism, POST-IMPRESSIONISM, includes such famous painters as Van Gogh, Cézanne and Gauguin. Still using some of the simplistic techniques introduced by the Impressionists, these works now become symbolic, i.e. "they have a message". This school is often referred to as SYMBOLISM. Example: "Picture of a farmer" by Cézanne. These painters also linked Impressionism with Expressionism (further below).

Other late forms include FAUVISM and POINTILISM, which go even further in reducing the picture to a composition of single points of colour. Examples on display here: "Waterloo Bridge" by Derain and "Yellow flowers" by Matisse.

At the beginning of the 20th century EXPRESSIONISM comes up in Germany. The expressionist collection is maybe THE highlight of the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, probably the most comprehensive collection worldwide. Expressionism takes Symbolism further by insisting that every picture must express a feeling or state of mind (hence the name). To make the message more visible, these painters apply very shrill colours.

The first group of expressionist painters is THE BRIDGE, which includes Kirchner, Heckel, Schmidt-Rottluff, Bleyl and Pechstein. There are around twenty paintings of thsi group on display.

The second group, "THE BLUE RIDER" goes further in creating its won world where animals symbolise purity and beauty. The most important and beautiful painting in the museum is "The dream" by Marc, which features the blue pony and pink lady mentioned before. Another great one is "Cirkus" by Macke.

Our tour of Realist painting in this museum ends with "Metropolis" by Grosz, which displays the hectic atmosphere and anonymity in a modern city, in blood red colour.

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The Museo Thyssen Bornemisza has an excellent website - www.museothyssen.org - where you can explore all of this in much more detail.

The museum is located on the avenue Paseo del Prado, opposite the Museo del Prado.

Copyright 2001 by Hansjörg Gebel, Witten, Germany
 

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