Weekend Plus
Prado, Renia Sofia and Thyseen- three Musuems housing: Madrid's proud artistic heritage
By Takir Hossain
Thu, 14 Jun 2007, 13:23:00

(From the previous issue)

The day was remarkable in my life that I went to the Prado Museum. The museum is very near to artist Monir's house (Marques del duero). It takes ten minutes to get there. The queue to enter the museum, was very long. Entry was free of charge for the day because the day was the first Saturday of the month. The museum is one of the premium attractions in the capital. The museum is the largest and most famous art museum in the city. One can view a number of paintings of the great masters like El Greco, Valazquez, Goya, Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubens, Botticelli, Mantegna, Rembrandt, Van Dyck and Brueghel. One will, naturally, find here art works from all the great Spanish artists.

Of course, snapping photos is strictly prohibited. The museum is a magnificent building with voluminous, spacious inner ambience. Each room is very large and has nice seating arrangements. One needs to, first, collect the museum's map, otherwise, one could very well get lost! This highly acclaimed art museum is one of the most-visited attractions in Madrid. The Prado Museum's permanent collection is one of the largest in the world. It consists of about 9,000 paintings, 5,000 drawings, 2,000 prints, 1,000 coins and medals, and approximately 2,000 decorative objects. The Prado also has a specialised library which researchers can use free of charge.

When I came out from the museum, the time was 7 pm. But the day was still and the weather was becoming cold. The wind became penetrating following the drizzle. Beside the Prado Museum, there is a high concrete monument where the flame dedicated to the martyrs is always burning. The monument is tribute to the martyrs of the land. Madrid is the city of various sculptures and statues covering different periods and eras. These represent the country's rich and traditional culture. Taking snaps with a smiling face in front of the statues is a common feature. A large number of various sized statutes are on top of the buildings in Madrid.

If you like going out at night, Madrid has some of the most varied nightlife in Spain. Madrid is the city of night. Night gives the city a special and fantastic look. When you move around the city, you can see many pubs, bars, discotheque, theatre-cafes and fashionable taverns grouped pretty close together. The pubs are filled up with people of all ages from youngsters to senior citizens. Especially, Madrilenians prefer nighttime for enjoyment. Madrid changes its look and appearance when the Spanish nightlife in general starts very late. Madrilenians eyes are searching for something new and refreshing at night.

Cigarette is very popular among the Madrilenians. The Spaniards like to gossip while they take sip a cup of coffee. Cafés are always very lively and animated in Madrid. People hug each other and cheer while enjoying drinks and gossiping intimately. Youngsters get together to drink and chat in the streets. Madrid is a city where people all over the town can find a place to go out for a drink.

Madrid is full of different types of establishments, which make it possible for everybody to find something they like. One can find everything from Irish, German and Scandinavian bars to reggae, jazz and, of course, traditional Spanish restaurants and tapa bars. For a nice dinner in Madrid, one can find everything from seafood, Basque cooking, paellas to Chinese, Italian and Indian food. Over the last several years, Indian foods have become tremendously popular among the Spaniards. During lunch and dinner at restaurants, one will get a bottle of wine free of charge.

On my sixth day at Madrid, I visited the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Reina Sofia Museum). Reina Sofia is famous for Picasso's Guernica. The painting depicted the horror and panic of war in Guernica. Guernica became the victim of the world's first saturation bombing. Picasso would not allow this work to be displayed in Spain during Franco's lifetime and until Franco's death it hung in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The museum is also famous for collection of other avant-garde painters of the 20th century like Mir'o, Oteiza, Julio Gonzalez, Tapies, Equipo Cronica and Gerardo Rueda. The powerful lighting and spaciousness gives a distinct beauty to the museum. Here also completely snapping photos is prohibited. The building itself, the central patio, with its superb mobile sculpture by Alexander Calder really adds a unique look to the museum. The bookshop on the ground floor seemed to me very worthwhile for its voluminous collections of books, CDs, posters, booklets, brochures, leaflets, pens, key rings and various reproduction works of famed painters of the world. The top floor's museum library is also remarkable for valuable collections. The food items of the cafeteria are also commendable and scrumptious. One day Monir Bhai brought me to the Goya Academy. The house is historical and one can easily research on Goya. The academy is famous for storing Goya's prints, original plates and other printing materials. I was introduced to the director of the Goya Academy. He presented me some books on printmaking. That day the weather was cold with persistent drizzling. We returned home. The night was especial for me because 'Alvaro Sarmiento Farino's (former honorary consul) arranged a dinner for my visit. His house was not far from Monir's house. On the way to his house, my dress was soggy for light rain. He welcomed us, told me to change the dress and gave me a nice cardigan. I was amazed at his simplicity. 'Alvaro has visited Bangladesh eight times and knows about the current turmoil. He loves our country and always wishes our progress and prosperity. His flat is delightfully adorned and his collection of paintings are superb. I saw a wondrous watercolour by Monir, which was done in 1980s and some modern paintings of Spain. 'Alvaro is an excellent cook presenting menus that are delicious and mouth-watering.

Madrid has another famous art museum which is very near to Prado museum. The museum Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (Thyssen Bornemisza Museum), is considered one that houses the finest private art collections in the world. The works of art that can be seen here have been collected by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Family over two generations. Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, German Expressionist movements, US and European postwar paintings, Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Duccio, Durer, Paul Klee, Van Eyck, Picasso, Rubens, Titian, Frans Hals, Mondrian, Carpaccio, Kandinsky, Lucas Cranach, Kirchner, Hopper, Bacon, Rauschenberg and Lichtenstein are part of the Thyssen collection. The museum is structured in such a way that one can actually take a journey through the world of art from the 13th century till the last decades of the 20th century. The museum has a unique collection of US nineteenth century paintings displayed in two rooms of the museum.

My last visit in Madrid was to Toledo, one of the most important cities of Medieval Europe. The city is 80 kilometres from Madrid and Monir Bhai took me there by his car. He drove smoothly and the car's speed was between 100 km to 120 km. The car was running between the greenery and flat highways. The highways are very quiet but busy. I saw lots of olive trees on both sides of road. The trees are almost the same size and full of leaves. The countryside was like a picture. When we started to enter Toledo city, it seemed we crossed a primitive city. But the streets are neat and clean and the lanes were full of tourists. The city has lots of lane and the shops sell various type of swords, plates, mugs and various type of showpieces where one can found Toledo's replica. The city also has lots of bars and the city has some special cuisine. At our lunchtime, there was baked bread with white sauce, beef, boiled eggs, baked tomatoes, salad and wine. The red wine was heavenly to my palate. I was indeed a happy man and thanked Allah for the marvellous enjoyment I was experiencing. Toledo was the capital of Spain from the Gothic period until 1560, a fact that explains its really impressive medieval architecture. Walking through its streets one feels like having stepped back into the Middle Ages. The walls, windows, monuments, statues, roads and above all the complete city carry one straight to the medieval period. The swords of Toledo gave its steel-production worldwide fame. Toledo is known as the glass city because of its long history of innovation in all aspects of the glass industry: windows, bottles, windshields, construction materials and glass art. I also visited my favourite painter El Greco's house, which is steeped with the evidence of at least five hundreds years.

After ten days visit in Madrid, I set out for Paris.

to be continued


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