Once again we present our pick of 14 exhibitions you can't miss in Madrid this holiday season — and several with very limited runs left. They're all wildly different, for every kind of taste, and spread across very diverse cultural institutions and venues. Highly recommended! Enjoy this post and let us know which ones are your favorites.
Beckmann. Figures of Exile
Until January 27, 2019
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
We start with the big museums — the basics, but they never disappoint. This monographic exhibition of one of the 20th century's most prominent artists, with a singular and constantly shifting style, ties the second half of the works on display to his exile from his native Germany and to the existential condition of modern man in that 20th century.
Dalí and Surrealism in the ABANCA Collection
Until January 27, 2019
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Also at the Thyssen, in the small free-access room at the entrance (first floor, above the shop), thirteen works from the ABANCA Art Collection have been selected around this artistic movement and primarily around the figure of the master Dalí. Wonderful pieces by Maruja Mallo, De Chirico, Max Ernst and Miró come together to round out the vision of Surrealist painting in those modern times.
Museo del Prado 1810-2019. A Place of Memory
Until March 10, 2019
Museo Nacional del Prado
Curated by the museum's Head of Spanish Painting Conservation, Javier Portús, the show takes a chronological journey through the museum's history — its changes, its swings, and how it continues today to reflect on itself and serve as a reference for many others around the world. Photographs, videos, paintings and many more works create the perfect atmosphere to wrap the Museo del Prado on its 200th birthday.
Twelve Photographers at the Museo del Prado
Until January 13, 2019
Museo Nacional del Prado
An exhibition the Prado has put together with the Friends of the Museum Foundation to show a very different perspective from twelve different contemporary photographers (Aitor Ortiz, Javier Campano, José Manuel Ballester, Alberto García-Alix and Cristina de Middel, among others). Two photos per artist to show, in just a few resources, what the museum symbolizes from their point of view — the inner reflection of each one of them.
Leonardo da Vinci. The Faces of the Genius
Until May 19, 2019
Palacio de las Alhajas de Madrid and Biblioteca Nacional
This show, focused on the figure of the multifaceted genius da Vinci, displays the famous Tavola Lucana, a painting that contains within its composition everything that appears to be a self-portrait of the artist. In partnership with the Biblioteca Nacional, where machines designed by da Vinci are also reconstructed alongside wonderful codices on his ambitious projects.
Tamara de Lempicka
Until February 24
Palacio de Gaviria
Although women artists have never occupied the same place as men, without a doubt Lempicka is the quintessential creator of Art Deco, and her enormous talent and personal style were rewarded despite her always taking risks and clashing with other movements. This show represents the world of the Polish painter and her work as an author very well.
Pilar Albarracín. Que me quiten lo bailao
Until January 27, 2019
Tabacalera Promoción del Arte
A selection of 60 works by the transgressive Pilar Albarracín, one of the artists with the largest multidisciplinary output (from performances and drawings to crafts and photography) and one of the most committed to the fight against inequality and social prejudice.
Beyond 2001. Odysseys of Intelligence
Until February 17, 2019
Espacio Fundación Telefónica
This venue presents an exhibition that's a bit special and different from what we're used to, conceived as a journey through human intelligence up to one of the projects that most obsesses humankind: artificial intelligence. To do so it takes Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey as its reference point, around which all the pieces of the exhibition revolve — many of them originals never shown before.
Jaume Plensa. Invisibles
Until March 3, 2019
Palacio de Cristal, Parque de El Retiro
This great space hosts one of the international artist's creative projects, based on a set of sculptures made of steel mesh that draw enormous figures in space, traversed by light and suspended in time. Jaume Plensa uses the venue to wrap the viewer in something magical.
BANKSY: Genius or Vandal?
Until March 10, 2019
Espacio 5.1, Ifema Feria de Madrid
The first major exhibition of the artist in Spain, a large showcase of his works that immerses us in a tour through pieces from the most famous private collectors. Framed within contemporary Street Art, the nameless one known as Banksy can today be considered a phenomenon known to all. Provocative, against the rules, mysterious and much more. Only by visiting the exhibition will you be able to answer all the subjective questions that surround this figure.
Alicia Framis. Gender Pavilion
Until January 27
Sala Alcalá 31
A reflection on the position women currently hold in society, on the world we live in and on what those human relationships look like. The well-known artist connects very diverse fields ranging from fashion to architecture, and includes the new performance titled The Walking Ceiling, against the political, social and labor glass ceiling that women endure.
Discovering a Dialogue Through Time
Until January 13
Museo Lázaro Galdiano
An exhibition built from works from the Coca-Cola Foundation Contemporary Art Collection, with a diversity of disciplines from sculpture to video installations. The aim is to deepen the conservation and dissemination of the works so they reach a much wider audience. Artists like Cristina Iglesias, Helena Almeida, Ignasi Aballí and Juan Muñoz, among others.
Rafael Tegeo
Until March 17
Museo Nacional del Romanticismo
A recovery of this artist, little known and studied by experts despite being a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, but who stands out as one of the painters who played a crucial role in his time. The exhibition keeps a close eye on the most relevant aspects of Tegeo's life, having brought together pieces as singular as the Virgen del Jilguero.
Wanting to Look Like Night
Until January 27
Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo
Under a curtain of anachronisms, scenes of delirium, illusion and eccentricity are portrayed. It seeks the dark side of the city with a poetic and inspiring touch, always moving between historical nostalgia and what we've been given to live through. This exhibition is part of the venue's various 10th Anniversary celebrations, with participating artists including Alex Reynolds, Beatriz Alonso, Manuel Saiz, María Salgado, Víctor Santamarina, among others.