Friday 25 de febrero
Start of my 3-day weekend in Madrid -- I actually have trouble remembering that it's february because it's SO warm here! I'm all ready to sport my tanktops, summer skirts and colorful flats, but the Madrileños are still wearing fur coats, scarves and subdued winter tones of black, brown and grey! Anyway... after a run in Retiro, I headed down Álcala to:
Portrait exhibit in Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.
Highlights:
Félix Lope de Vega and his pointy mustache
Salvador Dalí holding starfish (he was a student at this academy)
Rey Carlos II -- always interesting to see how the artist attempted to strike a balance between idealizing the facial features and accurately depicting Carlos's face so that it was recognizable.
Miguel Ángel (aka Michelangelo) -- a depiction by Vasari, who famously wrote biographies of several Florentine artists and was actually one of Michelangelo's students
Recognizing King Fernando VII -- I'm getting better at quizzing myself on these Spanish royalty!
Also I'm excited that I'm starting to recognize artistic styles, subjects and painting schools without looking at the labels -- Profesora Domenech has taught us well. Names like Zubarán, Coello, Sorolla and Chillida are now familiar.
Also explored the more modern collection upstairs. Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Palencia. I think I found a new favorite sculptor: Julio López Hernández. He has a really fascinating sculpture of his daughter drinking a cup of tea, except the sculpture is only her hands (one holding the cup) hovering above a table top, on which there is a relief of her face being reflected on the table top. It's really cool!
We had amazing weather -- 80 degrees -- so everyone was outside. Kids had the day off from school for some reason, so Consuelo's little 3-year-old grandson came over. I went to El Retiro after lunch to read and lounge in the grass. I feel like I'm on vacation at the beach!
Today was the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Joy in Plaza del Sol. Annie and I met up at Chueca, went to El Tigre and then stood in line for a while at Joy. No luck getting in because it was too crowded, but I was glad to get home before 3am and even more pleased to have figured out the night bus system! Haha
Start of my 3-day weekend in Madrid -- I actually have trouble remembering that it's february because it's SO warm here! I'm all ready to sport my tanktops, summer skirts and colorful flats, but the Madrileños are still wearing fur coats, scarves and subdued winter tones of black, brown and grey! Anyway... after a run in Retiro, I headed down Álcala to:
Portrait exhibit in Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.
Highlights:
Félix Lope de Vega and his pointy mustache
Salvador Dalí holding starfish (he was a student at this academy)
Rey Carlos II -- always interesting to see how the artist attempted to strike a balance between idealizing the facial features and accurately depicting Carlos's face so that it was recognizable.
Miguel Ángel (aka Michelangelo) -- a depiction by Vasari, who famously wrote biographies of several Florentine artists and was actually one of Michelangelo's students
Recognizing King Fernando VII -- I'm getting better at quizzing myself on these Spanish royalty!
Also I'm excited that I'm starting to recognize artistic styles, subjects and painting schools without looking at the labels -- Profesora Domenech has taught us well. Names like Zubarán, Coello, Sorolla and Chillida are now familiar.
Also explored the more modern collection upstairs. Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Palencia. I think I found a new favorite sculptor: Julio López Hernández. He has a really fascinating sculpture of his daughter drinking a cup of tea, except the sculpture is only her hands (one holding the cup) hovering above a table top, on which there is a relief of her face being reflected on the table top. It's really cool!
We had amazing weather -- 80 degrees -- so everyone was outside. Kids had the day off from school for some reason, so Consuelo's little 3-year-old grandson came over. I went to El Retiro after lunch to read and lounge in the grass. I feel like I'm on vacation at the beach!
Today was the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Joy in Plaza del Sol. Annie and I met up at Chueca, went to El Tigre and then stood in line for a while at Joy. No luck getting in because it was too crowded, but I was glad to get home before 3am and even more pleased to have figured out the night bus system! Haha
No comments:
Post a Comment