Inside/Outside the Head (& the Museum of Anthropology)

National Museum of Anthropology / Museo Nacional de Antropología
03/23/12—Calle Alfonso XII, 68

This is a museum diary, but when I extend its reach to cultural display, all Madrid’s my oyster.  One small observation can set off a chain of connected thoughts.  Let’s begin with the utter lack of visual stimulation inside our local public high school.  My sons each sit in one room all day, while teachers appear and disappear at intervals.  The walls of their respective classrooms are completely blank.  No posters, inspirational quotes, maps, or samples of student work. No Matisse prints or even “hang in there” kittens. Nada. This austerity strikes my 13-year-old as sad and bizarre.  (The 16-year-old is more perturbed by the requirement to sit still for hours on end.  He’s bitten his cuticles to the quick.)

Outside, though, Madrid is a riot of movement and color.  One moment you are admiring the parade of French bulldogs, the next, you’re face to face with monumental baby heads. 

Antonio Lopez, Día y Noche, 2008

Across the street, oh happy day, spring is finally blooming, as this tree announces outside the National Museum of Anthropology.  

A bright and modern space with three levels covering Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania, the museum might be a nice place to spend an hour while you wait for your train to pull into Atocha Station.  

 
Due to a lack of pizazz, and a perhaps an overly-cautious paring of the collection on display, I don’t recommend the Museum of Anthropology as a destination for the short-term tourist. You will see more, and better, at the Museum of America. Then again, on the top floor, the beaded dress of a 19th century Lakota Sioux will pull you straight into her orbit.  

 
Returning to the lack of visual stimulation in our local institution of secondary education, I wonder if the classroom-as-monastic-cell is a pedagogic strategy, or just a sign of apathy.  Either way, I say, the world outside is teeming, please let it in.  In my mind’s eye I still see a picture I gazed at in Mr. Engberg's class, Muirlands Junior High, 1977: Picasso’s hands with a bunch of flowers, next to a quote by e.e. cummings, “i thank heaven somebody’s crazy enough to give me a daisy.” 

The Museum of Ham

Museum of Ham / Museo del Jamón
02/24/12 – Carrera de San Jerónimo, 6

Bakery / Museo del Pan Gallego (Pl. de Herradores, 9)

On my quixotic journey to every museum in Madrid, I’ve come across a breed I’ll call the faux museum.  Rather than displaying fine paintings or jeweled snuffboxes, these establishments provide the necessities of earthly life.  For example, on a tiny plaza not far from Calle Arenal sits the Museum of Galician Bread.

Close to the touristy heart of the city hangs a sign for the Museum of Wine, though the entrance to this restaurant, if it exists, can only be accessed through a midnight incantation.

Calle de la Cruz, 14

According to the website, the art deco Museum Chicote (Calle Gran Vía, 12) has been serving cocktails to movie stars since 1931: Ava Gardner, Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra... all drank here.

Cocktail bar Museo Chicote--seen better days?

And then there is The Factory Beer Museum. If I read the web site correctly, the Beer Museum offers a literary prize of 2000 euros... for the best "beer fiction."

Calle Genova, 21

Here is another specimen of interest, the Museum of Tarot, an occult store just off Sol.

Calle San Alberto, 1

Finally, as seen in various locations around Madrid, the Museum of Ham. 

Carrera de San Jeronimo, 6

As if arranged by Busby Berkeley

The most expensive ham, jamón ibérico de bellota, comes from a free-range black pig that dines on nothing but acorns and herbs as it sashays through forests of oak.  After slaughter, the meat is cured for three years, sometimes four. On this trip to the Museum of Ham, our visitor from Wisconsin wants nothing but the finest: 9 euros ($12) for 100 grams--enough to line two rolls.  The Museum of Ham is both deli and diner, with a bread counter for good measure.  

A range of prices and types. Top r: 90 euros/kilo

100 grams of the best.

We’ve never tasted acorns, but now we think we know their essence, as filtered through a trotter from southern Spain, who rooted in the shade of mighty trees. 

Ham in the afternoon, Plaza de Isabel II

Chagall at the Thyssen: Two Venues, One Vision

The Rooster, 1929

Thyssen-Bornemizsa Museum / Museo Thyssen-Bornemizsa
02/16/12 – Paseo del Prado, 8
 

Fundación Caja Madrid
02/17/12 – Pl. de San Martín, 1

The “golden triangle” of Madrid museums refers to the magnificent three: the Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza, all within walking distance of one another.  The Thyssen-Bornemisza could use a bit of name re-branding—those are six syllables many of us can’t begin to pronounce.  How about a monumental, sparkling “T” in the courtyard of the Thyssen?  On a gray day, the courtyard needs some perking up anyway.

Bland courtyard of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (entrance at left)

But for now, just pronounce it “TEE-sun,” and go!  Until 20 May 2012, the Thyssen is hosting a retrospective of the twentieth century Russian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) that will leave you weak at the knees.

Bouquet at Window, 1959

Actually, the Chagall exhibit has been split into two locations.  The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (8 euros) covers the first half of the artist’s life, from his early years in the village of Vitebsk, through stints in Paris and New York, until WWII.  The continuation of the exhibit--Chagall settled in the south of France and died in 1985--continues across town at the Fundación Caja Madrid building (free of charge).  Both halves will make you happy. 

Entrance, Fundacion Caja Madrid (free exhibit)

Window in the Country, 1915

In addition to major paintings, bronzes, ceramics and stained glass, the exhibit presents Chagall’s original illustrations for the novel Dead Souls, for the Bible, and for La Fontaine’s fables. A great many of the works have been gathered from private collections: it's likely that you will never see them again in your lifetime.  

There is something very satisfying about retrospectives. Presented this way, the works themselves tell a far better story than a book on Chagall ever could--unless it’s the exhibit catalog, a hefty 39 euro door-stop you will be sorely tempted to acquire.   

Eighteenth Century Dream Kitchen

National Museum of Decorative Arts / Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas
02/08/12 – Calle Montalbán, 12

Something truly fabulous resides on the top floor of the National Museum of Decorative Arts. As you make your way through the other rooms and floors, everyday objects of extraordinary beauty—used by commoners, or by Kings—help illustrate the past four centuries of domestic life in Spain.  Here are a few examples from the many on display: The buttery yellows and Mediterranean blues of Talavera tiles…

Whimsical animals painted on household dishes….

Look closely.  The wild boar is peeing on a tree.

Over-the-top rococo mirrors…

Newt and Callista, this one's for you.

Plush stools…

Hand carriages…

Excess giving way to order, in the form of a neo-classical bassinet…

Finally, a feast for the eyes: an entire kitchen from Valencia, circa 1775-1800.  All 1,604 painted tiles were transported from the original palace, which was pulled down after the Spanish Civil War.  During the eighteenth century it was fashionable to cover every inch of the kitchen walls with trompe l’oeil decorations.  In this lofty kitchen, servants and lords mingle, while hungry cats nibble on whatever they can reach.  

(Tourist has coordinated purple shoes and jacket. Me gustan).

Bad cat.

More bad cats.

Servant with broom appears to be African.

Real items on shelves mix with painted items.

Spilling the chocolate.

Unwitting focus on Spanish docent. I just like this photo.

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As an added bonus, the ground floor of the museum has a visually stunning exhibit on Spanish Graphic Design 1939-1975 (Diseño Gráfico Español 1939-1975).  The temporary exhibit runs through 29 April 2012.

Guns of Spain

Museum of the Civil Guard / Museo de la Guardia Civil
01/30/12 - Calle Guzmán el Bueno, 110

This obscure but diverting museum nestles within the headquarters of Spain's military-status police force. Be prepared to show a passport at the entrance. Once inside the compound's courtyard, you'll walk past a construction site, as well as live examples of military brass, to the museum entrance. Upstairs, hundreds of guns fill the first room of the collection (Sala de Armas): old revolvers, pistols, carbines, rocket-launchers, guns in the form of pens, pearl-handled guns, stiletto-guns, guns confiscated from terrorist groups, and tiny guns from the 1950s that might hide in a satin evening clutch. Not to mention hand grenades, machetes, swords and wavy-bladed daggers.  Looking ahead, the final room has a bicycle from 1914, built to suspend a German Mauser along its frame.

The Civil Guard was created in 1844 to protect travelers from bandits along Spain's wild mountain passes, especially in the southern parts of the country. 

Goya, "Assault of a Coach," 1786-87

The Civil Guard also broke up demonstrations, monitored poaching, and patrolled the borders and the coast. Its role grew in modern times to include foreign peace-keeping missions, anti-terrorism, intelligence, and many other duties. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), the Guard split its loyalties down the middle, when almost half supported the rebel forces under general Francisco Franco.

The tricorne hat of the Spanish Civil Guard

The second room presents the history of Civil Guard uniforms, with the help of life-size mannequins. 

Early uniforms.  The striped version was worn in Africa.

Finally, the third room contains miscellaneous objects.  Lining the walls, dozens of miniature dioramas dramatize historical scenes from the lives and deaths--in the line of duty--of the Civil Guard in Spain and the Spanish colonies.  An engraved brass plate describes each scene. For example: a group of Guards in "Equatorial Guinea" (Cameroon) encounters a huge snake; two officers are killed and mutilated in 19th c. Granada by a family of criminals; four officers are killed in Castilblanco when they try to break up an illegal demonstration (31 December 1931); officers are killed by E.T.A. terrorists at a traffic stop (7 June 1968).  The displays are meticulously crafted, down to the smallest fallen branch or piece of broken chair.  In this museum, amidst the weaponry and violence, children will have a field day.

Hours: M-F, 9:00 - 14:00.  Metro: Guzman el Bueno.

The Hermitage at the Prado Museum: Scythian Bling v. Malevich's Black Square

The Prado Museum / Museo del Prado
1/24/12 - Paseo del Prado

Prado Museum ticket entrance

Ancient gold ornaments, dug up from burial mounds in Siberia and the Black Sea coast, form the glittering  center of an exhibit on loan to the Prado from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.  The Scythians, a nomadic Eurasian people from the fifth to third centuries BCE, wore exquisite belt buckles the size of iPads.  Their posture must have been exemplary.  Another dazzler, created in the 4th century BCE and described as an "earring with pendant element in the form of a boat," might just blow your mind.

The Hermitage has loaned over 170 objects, including sculpture, royal jewels, paintings, decorative art, and clothing from the Russian imperial court.  Caravaggio, Matisse, Rembrandt, Rubens, Fabergé, Bernini, Monet, and Kandinsky all make an appearance.  If you don't look closely, you might miss the foppish shoes on Henry Danver, Earl of Danby, as painted by Van Dyck in the late 1630s: kitten heels, with a burst of ruffle at the instep. One of Kazimir Malevich's four Black Square paintings from the early 20th century hangs here as well, small and mute in the presence of so many riches.

Matisse at the Prado until 25 March 2012

I'm halfway through Robert K. Massie's new biography of Catherine the Great, the obscure German princess who came to rule Russia from 1762 to 1796.  Catherine collected many of the artworks now housed in the Hermitage.  (She also collected Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Crimea). I enjoyed seeing the full-length portrait of the aging Empress by Giovanni Battisti Lampi (1793), as well as the filigree Chinese boxes from her dressing-table set. One of them takes the form of a crab on a leaf.

Cafe Prado

After a stop in the museum cafe...

I viewed a small exhibit about the re-discovery of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting, The Wine of Saint Martin's Day.  During restoration work in 2010-11, the painting was attributed to Bruegel when his signature and the date (1566 or 1567) appeared in the lower left corner.  A brief slide-show documents the restoration and identification process.  The subject of the painting is curious.  Did the 16th-century Dutch feed wine to babies?  Bruegel takes his subjects to task. Then, as now, human foibles gave rise to spectacular works art.

The Hermitage in the Prado and Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Wine of Saint Martin's Day run until 25 March 2012.

Saint Isidro and the Woolly Mammoths

Museum of Origins. House of Saint Isidro / Museo de los Orígenes. Casa de San Isidro
1/10/12 – Plaza de San Andrés, 2

Museum of Origins

The 12^th-century farmer and Patron Saint of Madrid, San Isidro, accidentally dropped his baby down a well.  When Isidro prayed for a miracle, the water in the well rose up, delivering the infant unharmed.  The legendary well, or Pozo de San Isidro, is show-cased in a small room of the House of San Isidro.  The connection of this well to Saint Isidro is unclear, since the house at this site actually belonged to Isidro’s master, Juan de Vargas.  The house was rebuilt in the 16^th century as a palace, and later served as offices for the Catholic Church.  There are paintings, sculptures and a chapel dedicated to the popular Isidro and his sainted wife, Maria de la Cabeza.* 

Is it or isn't it?

The same building houses the Museum of Origins, which debunks biblical timelines through scientific excavation and study of Madrid’s prehistory.  Numerous archeological sites have been explored along the banks of Madrid’s river, the Manzanares.  The main exhibit begins 500,000 to 120,000 years ago, when aurochs, giant horses and woolly mammoths roamed the area. 

Interactive display, with bones

The first human inhabitants, Homo Heidelbergensis, arrived from Africa about 400,000 years ago, followed by Neaderthals and Homo Sapiens.  They left few bodily remains, but many tools.  The museum interior has been renovated.  A lovely Renaissance style patio and a separate garden area complete the ground-level space.

Courtyard and fountain, Museum of Origins

Upstairs, a temporary exhibit contains a sampling of man-made objects from various periods of Madrid’s development, including a bedroom recreated from the excavation of a 4th c. Roman villa, with the original mosaic floor.  The Museum of Origins is still a work in progress. A second phase of construction promises more exhibits on the history of Madrid, from the first productive societies (9000 – 2100 years ago), Romans and Barbarians (2100-1300 years ago), Islamic Madrid (711-1085 C.E.), and Christian Madrid through the 17th century.
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*According to the story, after this miracle, Isidro and Maria vowed sexual abstinence and lived in separate houses.  (Might this be punishment for the egregious mistake of dropping their baby down a well?)