Reina Sofía National Museum

Where the Prado in Madrid ends, the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia begins: if the former is the temple of Spanish and European painting from the 13th to the 19th century, the Museo Nacional Centro d’Arte Reina Sofía, often abbreviated to Museo Reina Sofia, is one of the world’s most important collections of modern and contemporary art, with works ranging from the late 19th century to the present day.

Opened to the public in 1990, it cannot boast the two-hundred-year history of the Prado Museum, but the Reina Sofia also has an invaluable collection.

The museum’s highlights are masterpieces by the three great Spanish artists of the 20th century, Picasso, Miro and Dali. Themes and trends in contemporary and modern art are explored in interesting and well-attended temporary exhibitions.

Of the 21,000 works owned by the museum, tourists from all over the world come here to see one in particular: only two years after its foundation, the Reina Sofia Museum managed to acquire Guernica, Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece considered a manifesto against the violence of dictatorial regimes and wars.

Besides being one of Madrid’s main tourist attractions, the Reina Sofia is also a place for research and experimentation, with a well-stocked library and documentation centre.

Things to do at the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia

The Reina Sofia Museum’s immense heritage is divided into three sections, which, seen in sequence, will give you a historical overview of European art from 1900 to the 1980s. The historical excursus continues to the present day with temporary exhibitions.

Chronologically, the first collection is The Burst of the 20th Century: Utopia and Conflict, with works from the late 19th century to 1945 exploring the conflict between a Modernity understood as progress and the questioning of this ideology on a social, political, cultural and artistic level. Avant-garde, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism are the major artistic movements of this period.

It is in this section that you will find the works of the ‘big three’ of modern Spanish painting, Picasso, Dali and Miró, and it is in room 206 on the second floor that you should look for the famous Guernica.

Is the war over? Art in a Divided World includes works created between 1945 and 1968, a period strongly marked by the opposition between the socialist bloc (USSR) and the capitalist bloc (USA).

You can admire works by Spanish artists from the El Paso and Equipo 57 groups and international artists such as Francis Bacon, Lucio Fontana and Henry Moore.

The third collection, From revolt to postmodernity, covers the years 1962-1982: decolonisation, the feminist movement, the ’68 revolts, the economic crisis and the development of popular culture made the history of this twenty-year period.

Art diversified its proposals, reaching levels of eccentricity and crypticism that challenged the very definition of art. This is perhaps the most difficult section to understand, but the works of Luis Gordillo, Sol LeWitt, Pistoletto, Dan Flavin and the Zaj group are well worth your time.

Guernica, the masterpiece of the Reina Sofia

Realised by Picasso in 1937, Guernica is an extraordinary work that with its dramatic force manages to disturb even the most cunning contemporary audience, accustomed to seeing the horrors of war on TV.

Already at the height of his fame, Picasso accepted an invitation from the Spanish Republican Government to paint a work representing Spain to be exhibited at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.

Completed in just two months, this monumental work depicts the drama of the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain, which was razed to the ground by a Nazi air raid during the Spanish Civil War. With this work, the artist has left us a testimony worth more than 1,000 photos.

Some facts and figures about Guernica:

• The rough jute canvas on which the work was created is 28 square metres in size.
• The work should be read from right to left.
• A reproduction of Guernica is displayed in the corridor leading to the UN Security Council room.
• After the International Exhibition in Paris, the painting was exhibited at the MoMa in New York for several years; it returned to Spain eight years after Picasso’s death in 1973, but only since 1992 has it been exhibited at the Reina Sofia.

Guernica is a world-famous attraction and most tourists visit the Reina Sofia Museum for the sole purpose of seeing this famous painting, which means that during peak hours it is impossible to admire it in peace: you will have to scramble among dozens of other tourists.

Visit the museum leaving this masterpiece for last: if you arrive at closing time you can share this marvel with a few other people.

5 masterpieces not to be missed

Guernica is undoubtedly the star of the Reina Sofia, but there are other masterpieces on display at the museum that, just like Picasso’s famous work, are true pillars of contemporary art history.

Here are 5 works that you absolutely must see during your visit to the Reina Sofia Museum:

• The Great Masturbator: one of Dali’s most brilliant and at the same time delirious works, created in 1929. It blends with extraordinary technical and visionary skill the themes and obsessions typical of the Spanish master: psychoanalysis, fellatio, phallic symbols, autobiographical elements, soft shapes, grasshoppers and learned quotations (here the references are to Bosch and Dante Gabriel Rossetti). Another Dali work not to be missed is Girl at the Window.
• Woman in Blue: Picasso’s ‘flop’, which saw his work panned by critics in 1901. Today it is a valuable testimony to the beginnings of the research that would lead the artist to develop his unmistakable style.
• Man with a Pipe: created by Joan Mirò in 1925 during a stay in Paris, a period in which the artist came closest to Surrealist poetics. This work is the one that best expresses the creative freedom granted by the Surrealist movement.
• The Fall of Barcelona: the civil war inspired not only Picasso, but many other Spanish artists. Famous is the trilogy on the civil war created by Le Corbusier, of which this 1939 painting made following the news of the bombing of the Catalan city is a part. Through the decomposition of bodies, this work effectively expresses the destructive force of war.
• Great Prophet: not only paintings on display at the Reina Sofia but also sculptures, such as this extraordinary avant-garde work by Pablo Gargallo, one of the greatest Spanish sculptors of the 20th century. Although he loved tradition, he was a great innovator, remembered above all for his inverted reading of reality in which concave parts are transformed into convex ones.

Reina Sofia Museum Entrance Tickets

It takes only one or two hours to walk through the museum’s rooms and linger over the main works. An in-depth visit requires a minimum of two hours. Bear in mind that this is a very famous attraction, so plan for possible queues at the entrance.

Skip the Line Admission Ticket for the Reina Sofia

The entrance ticket to the Reina Sofia Museum includes a visit to the museum’s collections and temporary exhibitions; it is possible to buy admission to the temporary exhibitions only. On certain public holidays, Sunday mornings and during closing hours, entry to the museum is free of charge.

You can visit the museum on your own or take part in a guided tour.

Ticket + guided tour of the Reina Sofia Museum

Alternatively, to discover everything about the Reina Sofia Museum you can have an expert guide accompany you on your visit. The cost is slightly higher than the entrance ticket and even buying this tour will save you time and avoid queuing at the ticket office.

Combined ticket

The Reina Sofia is part of the Paseo del Arte, a cultural itinerary in the city of Madrid that includes three outstanding museums such as the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofía within one kilometre, plus other interesting museums, institutions and buildings. With the ticket below, you can buy admission to all three museums at a reduced price.

How to get to the Reina Sofia

You can get to the museum by bus, metro (L1 and L3) and train (Atocha station); if you have rented a car you will find two public car parks nearby. From the main buildings you can reach the branch buildings in the Retiro Park with a 20-25 minute walk.

Where to stay near the Reina Sofia museum

The Reina Sofia museum overlooks the Atocha train station. It goes without saying that there are plenty of places to stay in the surrounding area, from 4-star hotels to small flats. Choose your favourite according to your budget and the type of holiday you want to take.

Location and History of the Reina Sofia Museum

The original site of the Reina Sofia Museum was converted from an old hospital dating back to the 18th century, the work of Italian architect Francesco Sabatini. It was in 1988 that the decision was made to convert the Reina Sofia Art Centre into a national museum, with the aim of bringing together all state collections of modern and contemporary art under one roof.

The original core of the new museum’s collection comes from the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art, which was open from 1894 to 1988. The collection has since expanded thanks to donations, bequests and acquisitions, to the point where it became necessary to construct a new building to house the museum’s growing number of works.

The Nouvel Building, so called because it was designed by architect Jean Nouvel, was opened in 2005. The museum has two other venues, both in the Retiro Park (Glass Palace and Velázquez Palace), which are used for temporary exhibitions.