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Today we spent 6 hours wandering around the extensive & impressive collection known as the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. These artworks have been collected by 2 generations of a wealthy banking family & they have made them available to be viewed by the public in this museum. Aside from being overwhelmed by the size of the collection, we were also impressed that it represented the evolution of Western Art. Yes, there were religious paintings, but I coped with them, especially as there was a variety & some exquisite pieces...just look at the patterning in the gold, of the close-up above.
Textiles, unfortunately, were poorly represented, but they did have this finely stitched tapestry from the early 15th century, again, with wonderful use of pattern. It was a large piece & would have taken an age to make & probably made the stitchers blind in the process.
There was an interesting range of portraiture, some looking as if the sitter was just inside the window and would turn their head at any minute to return our gaze.
The museum designers were very wise to put a seat in front of this Canaletto. We spent quite a while sitting, enjoying the sense of a weather change, the light being reflected in the water, the activities of people in the foreground & the recognition that we were heading down the Grand Canal in Venice!
Walking into the galleries displaying more modern art, we were delighted to spot this 'The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher' look-a-like!!!!
The way art has changed & the change in perception of what art is, was highlighted extremely well, going from religious painting, to portraits, to still life & landscape, to where experimentation was being explored with the almost pixelisation of forms, to here....where composition itself is being expressed.
Naturally I was drawn to an piece that showed texture & mark-making!!
We enjoyed meeting a number of German & American artists on these walls, whom we had never heard of before. The 6 hours was an enjoyable gallery experience, even if my hips & feet were dying by the end of it! An inspiring way to spend our...sob...last day in Madrid!
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