Art & royalty

Madrid is a regal city of stately buildings, ebullient fountains and aristocrats (including the Duquesa de Alba, the most titled royal in the world). With its Palacio Real, the Prado Museum, the Madrid Ritz hotel, the Cibeles Fountain, the old Post Office building, Madrid is a genteel city as rich in history and tradition as a cup of Valor hot chocolate.

In the midst of all this grandeur is an 11-by-25.6-ft. mural that disturbs the senses. At first glance, it is not as conventionally beautiful as the Royal Palace or the Parque Retiro. And yet, it is no less arresting.

Many monuments and grand palaces are built by people who win wars, by people who keep the peace through war. Often times, we have to fight to preserve and safeguard what is beautiful. But war exacts a price, and demands a toll that is too much to pay.

And that is the beauty of the Guernica, Pablo Picasso’s most famous painting, now housed at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid.

The permanent collection of the Museo Reina Sofía includes works produced between the late 19th century and the present day. It currently boasts over 20,000 works in every artistic medium: about 4,100 paintings, more than 1,700 pieces of sculpture, nearly 3,600 drawings, over 5,500 prints, 4,230 photographs. Only about five percent of these are on display as part of the museum collection, like artworks by Picasso, Miró, Dalí, Juan Gris, Delaunay, Braque, Yves Klein, Motherwell, Bacon, Richard Serra, Calder, Magritte, Gerard Richter, Muntadas, Pistoletto, Sol Lewitt or Marcel Broodthaers.

Thus, the Reina Sofia is the repository of the works of three of the most famous painters of the 20th century  Picasso, Joan Miro and Salvador Dali.

According to the museum’s guide, Picasso’s Guernica is the most reproduced painting in the world. It is also reportedly the most travelled. Since the Guernica was put on display in 1992 in the museum  which incidentally was a former hospital  the museum’s guests rose from 800,000 to 1.5 million annually. 

The Guernica  an oil painting in black, white and blue   is a powerful political statement, painted as an immediate reaction to the Nazi’s devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

Guernica shows the suffering war inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. On completion in the early 20th century, Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. This tour reportedly helped bring the Spanish Civil War to the world’s attention.

After we swoon over postcard-pretty sights, it is sometimes necessary for us to stop  not to smell the roses, but to visit the thorns. They remind us to keep  and enjoy   the peace. Guernicas exist so we can live in a world where we can enjoy looking at the Mona Lisas.

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We were in Spain upon the invitation of the Spain Tourism Board and Singapore Airlines, which flies seven times a week to Spain via Barcelona. From Barcelona, one can take a fast train to Madrid (a scenic ride that takes about 2 1/2 hours) or fly any of the local airlines for about 70 euros one way, less than what it costs from Manila to Boracay.

We were billeted at the 102-year-old Madrid Ritz, which made us feel like visiting royalty. A baroque palace landmark in the heart the city’s “Golden Triangle,” the Madrid Ritz was originally built for the royal family’s guests after King Alfonso XIII visited Paris and stayed at the Ritz. Thereafter, he reportedly asked. “Why don’t we have a Ritz in Madrid?”

No two rooms at the Madrid Ritz are alike, as no two bedrooms in royal palaces are ever alike.

Art and royalty.

In Madrid for a couple of days, we had more than a taste of both.

(For inquiries, you may write to [email protected] or call Spain Tourism Board at +656-737-3008.)

(Write to [email protected].)

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)