The art world is celebrating some significant anniversaries this year, from Raphael to leading museums
From Madrid to New York to Rome, 2020 is a year of historic milestones, including significant birthdays for the Reina Sofia and Met museums and the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael.
Reina Sofia Museum / MADRID
31 October is the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Reina Sofia, and it has organised exhibitions such as Mondrian and De Stijl (11 November to 1 March 2021) and Concha Jerez. Our Memory Is Being Stolen (until 11 January 2021) as part of its special programming, along with film series, conferences, symposia and a very large virtual agenda.
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The Met / NEW YORK
This year, exhibitions, events and new ways of connecting with art are used to recall the 150 years since New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art – one of the world’s most popular – first opened. The museum has just launched its Making the Met, 1870-2020 exhibition, a retrospective of milestones in its history through more than 250 works, including both visitors’ favourites and fragile creations that can be exhibited only on special occasions from fascinating periods such as Ancient Egypt and the Renaissance.
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MUNCYT / A CORUÑA AND ALCOBENDAS
The National Museum of Science and Technology (MUNCYT) is now in its 40th year. Attached to the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and with locations in Galicia and Madrid, it remains one of the top destinations for future researchers.
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Fundació Antoni Tàpies / BARCELONA
The Foundation is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an exhibition focused on the period from 1953 to 1963, when Antoni Tàpies was in his 30s and reached maturity with his so-called matter paintings. Unknown works – many from private collections and others not seen for some time – have been brought together in the Tàpies als 30 exhibition from 3 October to 6 June 2021.
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Vila Nova de Foz do Coa Foundation / PORTUGAL
Opened on 30 July 2010 inside the magnificent Vale do Côa Archaeological Park, this modern museum exhibits pieces found in this fascinating region, most of which are from the Palaeolithic period. Visitors can arrange guided tours through the valley here.
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Raphael / ROME
If you did not manage to get tickets for the Scuderie del Quirinale Raphael exhibition this year, you can still see some extraordinary paintings by the old master in Italy’s capital. The Vatican’s Pontifical Palace houses spectacular frescoes in the four Raphael Rooms: the Hall of Constantine, the Room of the Signatura, the Room of Heliodorus and the Room of the Fire in the Borgo. The Vatican Pinacoteca houses The Madonna of Foligno and The Transfiguration. His painting La Fornarina is believed to have been inspired by his muse Margherita Luti and is located in the Palazzo Barberini. The Galleria Borghese has The Deposition, the main panel of Raphael’s Baglioni altarpiece. The Prophet Isaiah is in the Basilica of Sant’Agostino, while The Triumph of Galatea and The Loggia of Cupid and Psyche are in the Villa Farnesina.
