Museums in Spain

Spanish museums are a role model around the world, and, with the arrival of autumn, they are updating their offer to continue attracting thousands of visitors. From a visit to Peter Paul Rubens’ studio to a long-awaited retrospective exhibition, by Soledad Sevilla —one of the most renowned living Spanish artists—, but also a stroll through German expressionism from a woman’s point of view, that of Gabriele Münter, or the most radical side of a female painter, Hilma Af Klint, who broke the chains of academicism in Sweden. Iberia, which supports museums like the Prado, the Reina Sofía, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, or the Guggenheim, invites readers to discover the exhibitions that will open the new season through its Talento a bordo initiative.

Museo Nacional del Prado

In 2023, the Museo Nacional del Prado received 3,337,550 visitors, a number it hopes to surpass in the last quarter of 2024 thanks to one of its most anticipated temporary exhibitions: El taller de Rubens (15^th of October - 16^th of February). During the first half of the 17th century, Rubens was the most successful painter in Europe, not only because of the quality of his works, but also for the amount —around 1,500 of them have been preserved—. This exhibition explores the collaborations this master established with the apprentices that passed through his studio and which explain this prolific productivity. This exhibition will also include staging of his studio, a workshop located in Antwerp full of easels, canvases, paints, paintbrushes, palettes, and other elements which bring to mind the interests of this Flemish painter.

Art lovers who visit the Museo del Prado will discover how Rubens used to work in his studio. ‘Mercury and Argus’ (1636 – 1638). © Pedro Pablo Rubens and studio

The following months will also see the opening of Hand in Hand. Sculpture and colour in the Golden Age (19^th of November - 2^nd of March), which will illustrate the endless pursuit of realism in the Spanish art of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, and Polke/Goya (26^th of November - 16^th of March), which explores the relationship between German artist Sigmar Polke, one of the most influential painters of the post-war era, with Francisco de Goya. Also, art lovers will be able to continue to enjoy Ecce Homo by Caravaggio until the 23^rd of February. Since it appeared at an auction three years ago, this painting, which was part of Philip IV’s private collection, has represented one of art history’s greatest discoveries. The exhibition paying homage to Eduardo Rosales through 17 of his works also continues, without a closing date.

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

Soledad Sevilla. Ritmos, tramas, variables (25^th of September - 10^th of March) is the title of the main exhibition at the Reina Sofía Museum for this new season. A retrospective exhibition that goes over the career of this great Valencian artist chronologically through more than one hundred works from her first steps, at the Centro de Cálculo at the Complutense University of Madrid, to her current productions. The exhibition will delve into her language, based on the purity of line and colour, as well as the construction of geometric shapes. Since the 1980s, with the creation of installations, her aesthetic concerns expanded towards space and, among the works selected for this exhibition, Donde estaba la línea stands out for being a site-specific installation that uses cotton thread to take over the museum space.

The retrospective exhibition ‘Ritmos, tramas, variables’ goes over Soledad Sevilla’s career at the Reina Sofía Museum. ‘Sin título’ (1977). © Soledad Sevilla

Esperpento, as the core of aesthetic thought susceptible to offering a new perspective to understand reality, will star in the exhibition Esperpento. Arte popular y revolución estética (9^th of October - 10^th of March). The museum will bring together a selection of installation works by Lisbon artist Grada Kilomba under the title Opera to a Black Venus. ¿Qué nos diría mañana el fondo del océano si hoy se vaciara de agua? (20^th of November - 31^st of March). The last new exhibition is En el aire conmovido... (6^th of November - 17^th of March), whose title is taken from the Gypsy Ballads by Federico García Lorca, an exhibition which poetically articulates a political anthropology of emotion.

Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum

The work of Gabriele Münter, one of the founders of The Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter) —the legendary group of expressionist artists based in Munich— lands at the Thyssen with its first retrospective exhibition in Spain. Through more than one hundred paintings, illustrations, engravings and photos, Gabriele Münter. The Great Expressionist Woman Painter (12^th of November - 9^th of February) suggests rediscovering an artist who rebelled against the limitations imposed on the women of her time and who became one of the most outstanding figures of German expressionism at the beginning of the 20th century.

German expressionism lands at the Thyssen Museum with the Gabriele Münter retrospective exhibition. ‘Portrait of Marianne von Werefkin’ (1909). © Gabriele Münter

Art lovers will also enjoy a small-format exhibit dedicated to the North American artist Peter Halley (19^th of October -19^th of January). This selection of 20 paintings, belonging to both private and public Spanish collections, has been made by the artist himself and spans his entire career (1985-2024). Another visitor to the Thyssen Museum will be the multidisciplinary French artist Tabita Rezaire who explores the intersections between technology, spirituality, decolonisation, and healing. Tabita Rezaire. Calabash Nebula, the artist’s first solo exhibition in Spain, brings together the installations Des/Astres and Omi: Yemoja Temple.

Guggenheim Bilbao Museum

Despite the limitations imposed on women at the turn of the 20th century, Hilma Af Klint was able to study at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and exhibit her most traditional figurative works; however, the opportunities to admire her more abstract and radical works were rare. Her most innovative project, Paintings for the Temple (18^th of October - 2^nd of February), allowed her to free herself from ties, abandon academicist conventions and direct her attention toward scientific and spiritual trends until she created a unique personal artistic style. The Guggenheim will exhibit 110 of those 193 free, bold works full of colour made during almost a decade.

The works of Swedish artist Hilma Af Klint will fill the rooms of the Guggenheim Museum with colour (and boldness). ‘Evolution’ (1908). © The Hilma af Klint Foundation

This Bilbao-based museum will also pay homage to the innovative artist Paul Pfeiffer. Based on big, televised sporting events and popular entertainment, his work deconstructs our fascination with celebrity culture and unpacks how collective consciousness is shaped and manipulated through his masterful editing of found footage. Paul Pfeiffer. Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom (30^th of November - 16^th of March) spans 25 years of his versatile career. Finally, remember that the exhibition dedicated to Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara will remain open until the 3^rd of November.