Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
Picasso’s Guernica, depicting Franco’s bombing of civilians in Guernica during the civil war, one of the most celebrated antiwar paintings of all time, makes its permanent home here. (Picasso forbade Guernica’s return to Spain until democracy was reinstituted.) The museum, in an 18th-century hospital designed by Francisco Sabatini, is structured much like the convents, monasteries, and cloisters scattered throughout the Spanish countryside. High, whitewashed arched ceilings and large stone bricks create the corridors that run in a square around a central open courtyard. The building was restored and inaugurated in 1988. The permanent collection of modern art is worth hours of leisurely survey. Don’t miss the rock-and-steel sculptures of Basque artist Eduardo Chillida, the Joan Miró paintings, or the works of 19th-century Madrileño portrait painter Solana.
Tip: Arola Madrid (www.arola-madrid.com), an ultrafuturistic, nouveau-Spanish restaurant run by one of Spain’s most famous chefs (Sergio Arola), is attached to the museum.
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