Prado Museum: Spanish portraits from El Greco to Picasso

This week the Prado Museum opens a new exhibition covering five centuries of
Spanish portraits, from El Greco to Picasso. The exhibition has 87 paintings, opens
tomorrow and will stay open for three and a half months.

The Prado Museum’s Spanish Art exhibition is unique in that it covers such a long
period and illustrates the evolution of the style, social meaning and strategies of
Spanish portrait artists over five centuries.

The Museum describes this unique exhibition as follows:

An exhibition that offers an overview of the history of the Spanish
portrait, from its origins to the avant-garde. It includes more than
80 paintings by the leading artists to have worked in this genre,
including Alonso Sánchez Coello, El Greco, José de Ribera,
Diego Velázquez, Anton Rafael Mengs, Francisco de Goya,
Federico de Madrazo, Joaquín Sorolla, Ignacio Zuloaga,
Joan Miró, Juan Gris and Pablo Picasso.

This broad viewpoint allows not only for an analysis of the
development of the genre, but also an examination of the
varying social implications of the portrait in Spain over the
centuries, and of the aspirations of the sitters in conveying
their images to posterity. The exhibition includes paintings
by Velázquez, Goya and Picasso not previously exhibited in
Spain.

Art galleries from all over the world have collaborated to make this exhibition possible.

If you want to visit the El Greco to Picasso Portraits Exhibition and would like to book
your tickets in advance click here (if you don't book in advance you might find yourself
waiting for hours in the long queues which often form at the ticket office when the Prado
puts on these kind of special exhibitions).

Related links:
Prado Museum Euroresidentes
El Prado homepage (English version)
Guggenheim Art Gallery, Bilbao
Spanish Art, Euroresidentes
Valazquez
Goya
Picasso
Miro
Dali