from crank to bliss

I will definitely be going back to the Prado to see the Goya exhibit. I did see Saturn Devouring his Children and it was grotesque. I also saw Salome, which was amazing. I'm glad I went to the Prado first because yesterday we went to Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Say that 5 times fast. I do not think without the 400 years of the progression of art I saw at the Prado that I could have enjoyed the Sofia as well. The sheer wonder of seeing so many Picasso's, Dali's, Kandinsky's, and Miro's was almost overwhelming. I could see these artists taking up the tradition of so many artists before them and breaking apart the concept of art and reinventing it. There were echoes of the paintings from the Prado in the surrealist and cubist works. The point where art broke apart was evident. I was with a student, who is smart, but did not seem to get art until I pointed out a couple of things to her. They also had a couple Magritte's. I adore Magritte.

The real reason to go to the Sofia is Guernica. The sheer immensity of the painting is stunning. Your mind can not grasp what it is seeing and it accurately represents your minds ability, or inability, to conceptualize what war looks like. The best part were the surrounding rooms that had sketches and draft paintings for Guernica. You can almost watch Picasso's thought process and see how he draws the bull, then takes away lines, turns the head, moves the eyes, until what stand before you is a bull. Again, your mind recognizes it is a bull, but can not put the pieces together.

To a certain extent, as much as my limited art education allows, I understand Cubism and Surrealism. The final floor of the museum encompassed the 1950's on and that is where I lost my ability to analyse and comprehend what I was seeing. I've mentioned before how I did not get Rothko until I saw his work in person. I remember feeling like someone punched me in the gut when I finally stood before his paintings. I think because it was Spanish modern art I did not have a reference for it and I could not comprehend it. Something else to learn. They did have a couple of American artists as well, including a Rothko.

It was challenging getting to the museum because we were a group of six. No one had really planned what they were doing and so it was kind of frustrating. After the museum I just wanted to sit for a moment and get a drink. We find a restaurant and sit down, at that point one of the student says we were meeting someone in El Plaza Mayor. By then I was cranky and annoyed. Off we trot to the plaza and thankfully we had figured out how to use the metro. It is brilliant because then you do not need to know what bus stop you are looking for you just look out the window. We found our people sitting at the Plaza and ordered Sangria. We were paying for the view because it was ridiculously expensive. We met up with the cool kids and while they are nice, I'm too old for this nonsense.

My little group decided that this was absurdly expensive and went around the corner to a little place that had some delicious food cheap. It wasn't quite tapas, but they put tapas on little crusty bread. So, I ordered brie and almonds and they put it on bread. It was ridiculously cheap, fresh, unadorned, and tasty. I had a drink or two and by then I felt happy. Sitting on a twisty street amidst the buildings with good food and drink is bliss. I had no idea mixing wine and coke/sprite were called spritzers! The red wine and 7-up option came out of a tap. It was so good. Did I mention cheap. Then the rest of the group decided to go see the game and another student and I decided to go get some gelato and go home. We wandered around the streets just people watching.

On the way home it was obvious Spain had won the game because cars were honking and people were hanging out the window waving their flags. Driving through Villaviciosa there were people pouring into the streets. All in all a very good night.