Any excuse to go back to the Guggenheim Museum
AN EXHIBITION: CEZANNE AT THE THYSSEN
If there were Michelin stars in the field of exhibitions, Cezanne's at the Thyssen would take the 3 stars without a doubt. Basically, because it justifies any trip to Madrid from next February. It has the attraction of focusing exclusively on an artist whose works have been sold all over the world, making the fact of collecting them one more plus to visit it. To this we must add the care when it comes to being curated (Guillermo Solana at the head) as well as the importance of the artist himself as the father of the Vanguards. But the Thyssen year does not end here. Her homage to summer pop myths is sure to heat up more than Lichtenstein's 'Woman in the Bath'.
A NAME: EL GRECO
This year 2014 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Domenikos Theotokopoulos, a painter born in Greece whose name (El Greco) and nationality (Toledano, yes, Toledo) have changed in our country. That is why it is up to Spain to celebrate such an event that he will turn to two main stages. One, Toledo, that city that he painted in that way, with the monuments moved around and with a certain tendency towards Mannerism. The Castilian town of La Mancha will take advantage of the pull to promote those known as 'Espacios Greco' and organize exhibitions such as 'El Greco y Toledo' at the Santa Cruz Museum with the particular Toledo vedute as an anchor to talk about the relationship between painter and place. The other great setting will be the Prado Museum. Here we will try to compare and confront the work of the good Domenikos with the great painters of the 20th century whom he inspired in an ambitious exhibition.
2014 will be the year of El Greco
COLD FEVER IN PARIS
It is really complex to be able to value the work of Frida Kahlo without dissociating it from her character and her love with Diego Rivera. Today will not be that day, nor will 2014 be the year nor will Paris be the city in which her work is judged without the subjective maelstrom that its author brings to it. While at the Pompidou the struggle continues to make their work intelligible to children, at L'Orangerie (that wonderful branch of the D'Orsay) the work of Kahlo and Rivera will be brought closer to the Parisian public, uniting the production of both in holy matrimony.
LONDON (IS ANYBODY SURPRISED?) IS THE CITY
One more year (and there are already a few), London is positioned as the world capital of temporary exhibitions, the promised land for cultural travelers with a tendency to return. A retrospective of Paul Klee is already hanging on the walls of the Tate Modern (don't worry, there's time until March 9) and this new year comes with the promise of a headliner that doesn't fail: Matisse and with the first great posthumous tribute to Richard Hamilton. But for those who choke on modernities, the National Gallery is not far behind. First he shines with one of those exhibitions that are difficult to curate and organize due to the complexity of the painter. This is Veronese, a figure who will be used as the presenter of the Venetian Renaissance. Already in autumn appears the always magnetic figure of Rembrandt and his disturbing last paintings. oh! And don't forget, always free, always looking for public or private sponsorship to cover the costs. As it should be.
National Gallery, a London classic
SCIENCE TO THE RESCUE
When it seems that there is no more art, that everything painted, sculpted, photographed and even rescued is already exhibited in buildings more typical of the future, science appears. It is true that science museums are a bit of bread without salt, that they are not very funny and that, unless they use non-criminal sensory resources, their content is not surprising. But beware, here the packaging is what counts, and that is why this new museum has pulled a superstar architect to attract the spotlight this year. We are talking about the Biodiversity Museum of Panama, Frank Ghery's first work in South Texas, which seeks to consolidate this city as a tourist destination with a lot of identity (and quite heterogeneous). Like all things Gehry, this building draws attention to its complex shape, although here colored plates replace its famous titanium, making it look like a plastidecor version of its most recognizable buildings. …
AND ALSO HUMAN RIGHTS
Another resource that has become a museum trend: Human Rights. In this case, the city has been Winnipeg, in Canada, which will open its new icon in 2014, betting on the striking shell model to adorn its postcard. Aside from its curb appeal, this museum also has the grace of being the first National museum away from Ottawa. However, it would not hurt to consider what a space like this is for if man is still a wolf to man. Inaction? Regrets?
GOOD MUSEUMS, BETTER POSTERS
That yes, the rest of the world is not paralyzed, although the most mediatic names are not going to sound in the most recognized places. The great Swiss government institutions take the cake in its two great museums. The Basel Kuntmuseum will try to give a plausible explanation to Malevich's suprematistic universe starting in March. For its part, the Zurich Kunthaus is still on a roll after a good year because of Munch. In this case, his bet is the always successful expressionist movement both in Germany and France. If we leave aside the Cezanne retrospective at the Thyssen, the most attractive exhibition of 2014 will take place at the Guggenheim in New York, where they will dare with the Italian futurists. That yes, that the MoMA lovers do not get jealous, they have their good portion of Gauguin waiting for them. In this case, the exhibition focuses on his metamorphosis, on his feral growth in Polynesia.
This is what the roof of the Guggenheim in New York looks like
THE YOUNG GIRL COMES HOME
Normally, the Frick Collection in New York tends to go unnoticed by the voracious and fast gobblers of New York museums. It's logical, the old masterpieces of European painting, well, they don't attract attention. However, until the end of January, this mansion on 5th Avenue houses and exhibits the Girl with a Pearl Earring as well as the rest of the outstanding pieces of the Mauritishuis in The Hague. They will return to her house on June 27, when this renovated space will finally live up to the works it preserves, being the great museum news of Holland in full hangover after the reopening of the Rijskmuseum.
THE LAST TAGS OF 2013
Although they opened at the end of 2013 (why not say so, in the middle of the low season to grease their machinery) these museums will shine, above all, this year. The first is the renovated Olympic museum in Lausanne which, after a few years in exile on a ship on the Leman, returns to its original location. Of course, it is likely that the famous mascots do not recognize the place where they spent so many years since the route has been changed and the facilities modernized to make the sport's milestones more attractive and invite smiles and easy tears. The second is the Musée Fin de Siecle in Brussels, a twist on the collection of the Free Society of Fine Arts that focuses on showing only art from the mid-19th century to the outbreak of the Great War.
AND LOUISE VUITTON BECAME A PATRON
It has been playing hard to get for a few years, but it seems that in 2014 we will see the opening of the museum of the Louise Vuitton foundation for creation. Located in the Parisian neighborhood of Bois de Boulogne, this spectacular center designed by Frank Gehry (more 'ooooh' than ever) seeks to be a benchmark in contemporary museums thanks to its cutting-edge technology. But let no one think wrong believing that it will be a mere gimmicky claim for the brand and the city. The intention of the LVMH Group is to make it the great exhibition place for young artists, as they do with their Foundation in the Hong Kong art museum. To begin with, they will open with a sample that includes works by Basquiat or Cyprien Gaillard, safe values for the classist Parisian public.
THE PUSH OF FASHION
Two major exhibitions in the old continent continue to show that fashion deserves a place in the museum. The first and most ambitious, a review of Italian fashion from 1945 to the present in the best possible setting: the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The second, a look at the life, miracles and designs of the great Coco Chanel, elevated to the figure of myth in Hamburg.
Puppy, by Jeff Koons, at the entrance to the Guggenheim
YOKO ONO WALKS THROUGH THE NERVION
Eye, it seems that this exhibition goes beyond the news, the expectation and the anecdote. Because yes, Yoko Ono is not only the 'woman of' but she is the great pioneer of conceptual art, a true visionary who turns 80 this year. From March 14, on the banks of the Nervión, the 1960s will be discussed from a point of view quite unknown to the Spanish public.
A MIRACLE IN MADRID, ANOTHER IN BARCELONA AND A FEW PRAYERS FOR THE SOUTH
In Madrid we still ask ourselves when the minimalist national archaeological museum will reopen. It seemed that 2013 was going to be his year, but you already know: the crisis as a shield for incompetence. For its part, Barcelona hopes to inaugurate its museum of cultures in June, a new space dedicated to the most exotic and distant art. A pioneering place in Spain that will open in a very museum-like enclave: the Nadal and Marqués de Llió Gothic palaces. Finally, a wish that 2015 will finally be the year in which the Contemporary Creation Center of Córdoba, known as C4, opens. A brave bet that is taking too long. They could take the example of Malaga, which in a year will be dominating all the covers with the new Pompidou and the Museum of Fine Arts. If we had been told 15 years ago that Malaga would be a spearhead of cultural tourism in Spain, no one would believe it.