The Top 10 Art Galleries in Spain

The Museo del Prado in Madrid opened its doors to the public as a painting and sculpture museum in November 1819. The museum’s main pieces came from the royal collection, which included paintings such as The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch, as well as works by El Greco, Velázquez, Reubens and Goya. Today, the Prado’s collection comprises 8,600 paintings and over 700 sculptures. Paintings from the Spanish, Italian and Flemish schools are particularly well-represented. Don’t miss Spanish masters Diego de Velázquez (whose Las Meninas is one of the Prado’s most famous works) and Francisco de Goya, whose Black Paintings are displayed in their own room for the ultimate immersive experience.

When Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí came across the old municipal theatre of the town of Figueres, north-eastern Spain, he thought it would make a wonderful museum. He set about shaping it into a singular vision, a place to display all his artistic whims. Everything inside the gallery was designed by Dalí to draw visitors into his unique and surreal world. The museum has a comprehensive collection of the artist’s work, from his early beginnings, to paintings and sculptures made in his later life. But it is the gallery itself that embodies Dalí completely; it is considered his last great work and the place he chose to be buried.

Valencian Institute of Modern Art, Valencia

The Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, opened in 1989 was Spain’s first centre for modern art. Its collection comprises over 11,000 pieces that span the 20th century, and the continents. The collection is split into eight different themes, focusing on different areas in the development on contemporary art. One theme centres around Catalan sculptor Julio González, an important reference at the beginning of contemporary art in Spain and Valencia who was famous for modern sculptures made from iron. Other themes include artists such as Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and the Dadaists, and photographers Robert Frank and Cindy Sherman.

Calle de Guillem de Castro, 118, Valencia, Spain, +34 963 17 66 00

Fotografía de ROBERT FRANK 1955

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