Madrid or Barcelona for art lovers

I much prefer Barcelona (I love the modernista architecture, and then there's the medieval Gothic Quarter), but Madrid has the Royal Palace. It's a busy city that gets a lot of tourists, but the foreign-tourists-to-locals must be much lower in Madrid than in Barcelona. To me Madrid just isn't as distinctive as Barcelona.

The major Dali attractions aren't in Barcelona. The Dali Theatre-Museum is in Figueres (north of Girona) and the House-Museum is in Port Lligat, outside Cadaques and even farther from Barcelona. Barcelona does have the very nice Miro Museum (not mobbed like the Picasso Museum), the important MNAC (with fine medieval frescoes rescued from churches in the Pyrenees and a collection of modernist furniture, jewelry and decorative art as well as paintings and sculpture) and several other art museums.

No knock on Barcelona (which also has Miro and Gaudi), but Madrid has the Prado, one of the world's premier art museums, with masterpieces by many artists from the Renaissance into the 19th century. Also the Reina Sofia, an outstanding modern art museum whose best known piece is Picasso's "Guernica." And the Thyssen Museum is also excellent, though less well known.

"Art lovers" covers a lot of ground. There are so many periods and styles, we all have our preferences. I appreciated the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, including his many renditions of subjects from Velasquez "Las Meninas" which helped me appreciate that work much more when I saw it days later in the Prado. Dali and Miro don't do much for me, but some people love their work. I loved the Romanesque murals in the Museum of Catalan Art in Barcelona, but they're not everyone's choice. But I thought the Prado was among the best art museums I've visited anywhere.

"Art lovers" will find plenty to love in both cities, art-wise and otherwise. If you're one, do some guidebook research to see which city has more appeal based on the art and artists you prefer.

It depends on what kind of art you like. The big 3 in Madrid, Prado, Thyssen-Bornemizza (sp?), and Reyna Sofia cover centuries of European art.
The Barcelona musems are more focused. There are the 2 showcasing the art of Catalunya, Medieval and . One just with the work of Miro; another for Picasso. Then of course there is the glorious display of modernista buildings that you can see just ambling the streets.

I haven't been to Barcelona but I have spent a fair amount of time in Spain. Madrid isn't a "wow" city like some of the large European destinations, but I did really like it. For art, of which I am an obsessive, I LOVED the museums in Madrid. The Prado is world class and my #1 destination was to see Guernica at the Reina Sofia Museum. I also took a side trip to Toledo, which I very much enjoyed.

Madrid also has some nicer smaller sites and I found the entire city to be very manageable. That said, I liked the Thyssen's collection but absolutely hated the wall color. I was an art curator for many years (and still do a fair amount of consulting), and do not subscribe to the white wall concept. However, the peachy-pink color of the walls was very distracting and almost made me nauseous to look at after a while. I understand it is notorious and was the chosen by a wife of one of the founders. Someone should have talked her out of that - it does nothing for late 19th century paintings in gilded frames. (I know - super picky, but I carry this burden with me. LOL)

Barcelona is my favorite city in ES. You have Picasso’s Museum in the old quarter that shows how truly talented he was in his early years and then you have Salvador Dali’s museum in Figures (direct train ride away that makes a nice day trip from Barcelona) that should not be missed. Purchase tickets for Dali’s Theatre-Museum before leaving home.
Plan on spending a half day at least at the Prado. The other major attraction is Picasso’s Guernica at Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Start by looking at how he pieced it together before looking at the grand finale. Can you go to both cities?

Barcelona is great but it loses an art lover proposition, no question.

In addition to the "Big Three" (Prado/Sofia/Thyssen), Madrid is packed with art of all sorts at the Sorolla, Ceralbo, Decorative Arts, Galdiano museums. The Palacio de Liria is full of priceless work. The naval museum has a trove of portraits, seascapes, and dramatic battle paintings. The church where Goya is buried—I can't think of the name—it's lined with frescos of his. More rich frescos at a small church between Chueca/Malasalña. Even the street name times on almost every intersection in the city center—ART!

The sad truth is that lots of people on this forum don't see much value in Madrid and have left a large amount of it unexplored. Barcelona excels in presenting the work of a few, renowned, local artists. If your interest reaches beyond just those few masters, Madrid is the place to go.

I'd boil it down to this, Barcelona has the greatest work of art in Spain which is La Sagrada Familia. While Madrid has the greatest collection of art in Spain which is the Prado museum.

I have been to both cities, and while I love both cities, I would choose Madrid for art lovers. The Prado and the Reina Sofia are outstanding art museums. The Reina Sofia, of course, is known for Picasso's Guernica, but the rest of the Reina is amazing, too. And the Prado is exceptional. I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the Louvre. We didn't have time to visit the Thyssen. Wish we did. We also enjoyed the Royal Palace, Temple of Debod, Retiro Park.

Barcelona has an almost religious power over this newsboard, but I can't explain why. Although there is a Catalonian museum, a lot of the interest in Barcelona is work after 1890 and architecture, If you like conventional painting and sculpture (some people don't care for miles of walls ...), I prefer Madrid.

Do not overlook the Museo des Bellas Artes in Madrid, the most overlooked site in the city. There are hundreds of superb paintings that you will be alone with, and a print section with shorter hours. If you make an appointment/ticket for the two private Convent visits, you'll find a few rarely-seen paintings given by the women who entered a convent, and elaborate architecture to rival Barcelona (but neoclassical, not modern.)

Referring to your one other post, it is not wise to try and see both Spain and Portugal in 12 days on the ground, not counting transatlantic travel That leads to bad choices like choosing between two major cities of southern Europe, both with excellent air service. You can't leave out Madrid.

All great feedback. Thank you.

I did not participate because whatever I say you all will accuse me of being biased (and obviously I would have been), LOL! :)

To Tim’s point, with only 12 days on the ground in Portugal? May want to reconsider going to Spain on this trip. What worked well for us was spending 2.5 weeks in Portugal, then adding 4 nights in Madrid and 4 nights in Barcelona. Each city is unique. We too are art lovers and enjoyed the best of both Madrid & Barcelona.

I have been to Madrid but not to Barcelona. I liked the Thyssen Museum even more than the Prado. Possibly because a certain percent of the works in the Prado seemed Catholic themed and was not raised Catholic and the Thyssen-Bornemiszma Museum had many more old landscape paintings which I like more than portraits. I say the Sorolla museum too, and the museum of the Americas which has some paintings. My impression is that Madrid has more artwork. I could change my mind if I go to Barcelona.

Madrid for Art.

“Do not overlook the Museo des Bellas Artes in Madrid, the most overlooked site in the city. There are hundreds of superb paintings that you will be alone with, and a print section with shorter hours. If you make an appointment/ticket for the two private Convent visits, you'll find a few rarely-seen paintings given by the women who entered a convent, and elaborate architecture to rival Barcelona (but neoclassical, not”

Thanks @tim , just put this on my agenda.