Tuesday Travels...Madrid Reposted: The Ladies and Gentlemen Who Lunch

This is a re-post of a piece from October 3, 2010, when we spent two amazing weeks in the Spanish capital:

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The Circulo de Bellas Artes is a venerable institution on the Madrid arts scene and as its name suggests (Circle of Fine Arts) the place has a clubby atmosphere about it. We had seen a few photos of its elegant cafe and decided that a post gallery-viewing lunch was in order. The weather was spectacular and the streetside terrace gracious and inviting, but we could not pass up the opportunity to dine in the grand salon.

The crowd was largely of the Ladies (& Gentlemen) Who Lunch set, of a certain age and well established  members of cafe society. No doubt there were individuals amongst them who took their lunch here, alone, every day.

There was a surprisingly strong representation though by the business lunch crowd, and of course there were those like us who were visitors to the institution. And finally, most endearingly, "real artists" (!), those grungy, wiry, well-pierced young folks in their torn up, paint stained black tee's & black jeans. Here in the Circle of Fine Arts the artists were welcomed with arms as wide open as those for the ladies with pearls and cashmere.

The menu decidedly favoured the principal patrons- Old Lady Food one might bluntly call it- but it was executed with classic competence.

One of the many charms of Madrid is the Menu del Dia, a lunchtime offering of first course, entree, beverage and dessert or coffee for a highly affordable price. We have taken to making this our main meal of the day and today was no different. For 12 euros we started on the one hand with an excellent gazpacho, served with finely diced condiments (peppers, cucumber, etc) and on the other, a vegetable paella which in itself could have constituted a main course. 

We followed with sliced roast beef in a lovely port reduction sauce, served with classic vegetables and piped potatoes mixed to within an inch of their lives with cheese. See, we told you it was Old Lady Food!

Oh, and did we mention that the beverage that's included in the price is as much as you care to drink of the bottle of wine placed at your table? One could get very used to this! Two people, two substantial courses, a coffee and most of a bottle of vino tinto for about $35CDN. This three hour siesta thing is really growing on us!

More on the Circulo de Bellas Artes in a future post.

Big Red

Our pre-vacation research had led us to understand that the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, the most recent of the "Big Three" art institutions in Madrid, was a bit of a lightweight compared to grand daddy The Prado and the private boutique collections of the Museo de Arte Thyssen-Bornemisza. Criticism tends to suggest that the Reina Sofia has a "shallow" collection, and that it's a museum built around the star of their  aquisitions, Picasso's Guernica. Despite the somewhat condescending narratives, the place is home to many fine pieces and is considered a tourist must-see. It is the one institute of the three that focuses on modern and contemporary art. 
In addition, we were already familiar with the fabulous 2005-completed addition designed by Starchitect Jean Nouvel which made it a necessary stop on our itinerary. Lo and behold, we found it to be the most stimulating of the three.

 Image courtesy madaboutmadrid.com

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The Art:
OK, let's be frank. We don't know much about depth of collections, heirarchy of lesser and greater pieces, etc. Put us in a room with beautiful art on the walls and we're happy campers. Draw some connections between the historical context of all the various pieces we're looking at and we stroke or chins and say, "oh, that's interesting. Hmm, that makes sense, now." We leave feeling a little wiser and fulfilled by having been in the presence of beauty.

And there was plenty of that at the Reina Sofia. Like everyone else, we made a beeline for the room in the historic Sabatini Wing which houses Guernica. Fortunately they make you work a little for your reward, and the large collection of spaces took us on a tour of the artisitc influences playing out in Spain in the '30s and on into the years of the Second World War. We were quite struck by the role of artists in producing cartoon style anti-fascist propaganda, and were able to directly link that world to the current day, reflected in the exhibition of cartoon art we had seen a few days before at the Circulo de Bellas Artes. And of course, how could there not be plenty of Miro, one of our favourites?

Unsurprisingly, there were many Picasso's, a number of which were studies for Guernica.

...and an assortment of other goodies...

The Building:

The original museum was housed in a former hospital, the white-ish structure at the center of the photo below. It has a lovely courtyard filled with luscious plants and a spectacular Calder mobile on a plinth. Since the renovation, it has become known as the Sabatini Wing, named after it's original architect. The addition occupies a wedge- shaped site fronting a busy boulevard, oriented at an awkward 45 degree angle to the Sabatini.

Nouvel's solution to his design brief was to pull the program spaces apart into three blocks. The largest is an addition to the museum and is attached to the Sabatini via an airy shaft that houses elevators and stairs. The second block is the library/ bookshop structure which parallels the street. The third contains a cafe with a theater space above.

The three blocks sit on a paved plaza which they share with the sculpture 'Brushstroke' by Roy Liechtenstein. Nouvel's masterstroke was to unite the three individual parts with a red aluminum skin and to place a gigantic "floating" shiny red ceiling on the space. The roof structure is punctured with enough skylights that the space isn't dingy, and in fact, it must be a very cool oasis in the scorching heat of a Madrid summer.

 Image above courtesy arcspace.com

 image above courtesy viajejet.com

Above, the Liechenstein sculpture 

with the museum entrance behind.

Below, the library stacks are partially sunken below the plaza.

The red roof floats above the open air plaza, 

hovering above the old Sabatini Wing.

Below, the red facades and ceiling have a strong impact on the immediate neighbourhood.

 image above courtesy arkitectoniq.blogspot.com

Art with a View...

We posted recently about our fun lunch in the café at Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, and we promised to tell you a little more about the institution itself. Why don't we let them speak in their own words?

The Círculo de Bellas Artes of Madrid (CBA) is a private, not-for-profit cultural institution. Ever since it was set up in 1880, it has played a major role of international scope in the field of cultural creation and diffusion.
The Círculo de Bellas Artes is a major multidisciplinary centre with one of the most active cultural programmes in Madrid. It has exhibition rooms, a cinema, a theatre, concert halls, lecture halls, artists’ workshops, a library, a cafeteria, a shop and many other facilities. Every day it puts on activities to do with the visual arts, music, film, the stage, literature, science, philosophy and poetry.
The building which houses the Círculo de Bellas Artes was designed by the architect Antonio Palacios and constructed in 1926. It is an emblematic building and from its rooftop you can enjoy some of the best views of Spain’s capital city.

 When we visited there was an exhibition featuring young designers, and another on the art of comic strip drawing.

 The young designers exhibit featured a small number of pieces of varying nature and quality. Generally speaking, the graphic designs impressed the most.

The comic strip making exhibit, again of modest size, was of high quality and emphasized the active political role taken by these artists in producing art which provides critical commentary on current events. It was interesting, later in our trip at the Reina Sofia Museum, to find ourselves looking at illustrated propaganda from the period of the Spanish Civil War and to realize the continuum that this art form has maintained.

 

The Círculo building is impressive and features a beautiful staircase that winds its way to the upper levels.

 

 

A virtual tour of the building is available here 

on the institute's website (requires Quicktime).

The star feature of the building is certainly its huge rooftop terrace. In fact it was pictures like this  first one that led us to the CBA in the first place, thinking we would be able to enjoy an evening cocktail high above the city. Alas, the space is only used in the evenings for special events so unless you are on someone's guest list you must visit during the day.

 

We were actually more than happy to visit in the daylight- we were rewarded with a spectacular view over the capital. And fortunately for us, on the day we chose to visit we were treated yet again to the most spectacular blue skies.
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CIRCULO DE BELLAS ARTES

Calle ALCALÁ, 42
28014 MADRID

Shops We Love: Don Flamenco

 Unfortunately, this little gem was closed so we didn't get the opportunity to go inside.

The doorway and walls were plastered with posters in support of the local Flamenco community.

We love the art in this window!

Don Flamenco

Calle del Leon, 17

Madrid