Madrid offers great value for a weekend escape or an extended visit, just a short ride from Asturias. Autumn brings a fresh season to the city’s top museums and art centers, where new shows spark excitement and each exhibit feels uniquely inviting. For visitors planning a year-end trip, the Good Life supplement highlights the standout displays across the capital.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Baroness Thyssen has organized what promises to be one of the season’s most popular shows, Picasso / Chanel. The collaboration between the painter and the designer began in Paris during the Roaring Twenties. The exhibit traces their professional ties and personal encounters, unfolding four major chapters in chronological order, with a focus on Picasso’s cubist period from roughly 1910 to 1930 as he painted Gabrielle. It is joined by Chanel designs that echo that era. The venue remains open through January 15, and another show, Hyperrealism in the Blanca and Borja Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, features eight works from leading hyperrealists such as Richard Estes, Charles Bell, Don Jacot, Bertrand Meniel, Roberto Bernardi and Raphaella Spence. [Citation: Madrid museums overview]
CaixaForum
The modern cultural hub hosts three public exhibitions. Egyptian Mummies closes soon after October 26, while Extended visions. Photography and experimentation opens on December 1 to explore the history of experimental photography. Through January 8, Nikola Tesla, the genius of modern electricity, is showcased as a pioneer of today’s technology. [Citation: CaixaForum program guide]
Prado Museum
Until January, Spain’s national gallery presents the refined works of the Marquis of Santillana, a cultured nobleman who supported the arts between 1398 and 1458. The same period for Cinquecento in Naples will open October 18, featuring Spanish artists in the Italian city. Zóbel arrives in mid-November, highlighting a Spanish abstract painter who may still be unfamiliar to many. [Citation: Prado highlights]
CentroCentro (formerly Cibeles)
A project by the Catalan architect Gaudí occupies the Madrid palace from late Friday through March, presenting more than 150 works across the spaces. [Citation: CentroCentro program]
Ibercaja Delights
Tim Burton fans will be delighted by an immersive experience running from Thursday to Sunday, December 11. [Citation: Ibercaja events]
America House and Mexico House
The second venue closes soon and hosts Frida Kahlo with 31 original works and 91 photographs. The first venue displays photographs by different artists. Latin America is celebrated until January 7. [Citation: Americas cultural centers]
Fine Arts Circle
Belgian creator Hergé and Tintin come to life in a traveling exhibition with an outdoor screening, open until February 19. Tintin’s rocket sculpture marks the corner of Gran Vía and Alcalá. [Citation: Tintin exhibit]
Channel Foundation
Alice in Wonderland and its surreal realm intrigue artists such as Dalí, Ernst, and Laurencin, with engravings on display through January 8 and John Tenniel’s illustrations from the first edition of the novel featured as well. [Citation: Channel Foundation notes]
Juan March Foundation
Until January 15, Stop, instant. Date of photograph explores works from birth to 1840 and presents period replicas drawn from two distinguished collections built over decades by Dietmar Siegert in Germany and by Enrique Ordóñez and Isabel Falcón in Spain. [Citation: Juan March Foundation]
Mapfre Foundation
Until January 8, visitors can see a metal sculpture show examining the bond between Julio González and Pablo Picasso, alongside pieces linked to Picasso’s funeral monument for poet Guillaume Apollinaire in 1928. [Citation: Mapfre Foundation]
San Fernando Royal Academy
Until December 11, the spotlight is on painter and academic Álvaro Delgado Ramos, commemorating the centennial of an artist who shaped much of his work and stayed closely tied to Navia since 1975. A large exhibition on Tutankhamun opens November 4 in Matadero, with Daughters of the Nile at the Palacio de Alhajas until December 31. The Masaveu Foundation showcases its 19th century paintings in Madrid before moving to Oviedo, while the Sorolla Museum presents darker works in Sorolla in Black, running through the end of November. [Citation: Madrid academic circles]