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Madrid photos by SK

An unexpected discovery we made when visiting the famous Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid was the Palacio de Congresos de Madrid at the Paseo de la Castellana – or rather a mural on the front facade. But is it really what it looks like?  A later visit at the Reina Sofia museum gave prove of what was only an assumption that war: Yes indeed, it is a Miró work, design by the artist himself.

In 1980, the ceramist artist and friend of Miró, Josep Llorens i Artigas (1982-1980), created the mural after the original design of Joan Miró (1893-1983).

The congress building itself has been constructed in 1970 by an Spanish architect Pablo Pintado y Riba (cf. Spanish wikipedia entry).

Miró has created several ceramic murals (a short overview here). One of them can be admired in Germany, at Ludwigshafen – the BASF city:

Here, Miró’s work, his 12. mural, is decorating the southeast facade of the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, constructed between 1973-1979. With 55 x 10 m and made of 7200 tiles it is one of Miró’s biggest works (1970s). Actually it is owed to a construction mistake: the had to be heightened to +4 metres, the huge exterior thus “demanded” for artistical treatment. The founder himself, Wihlem Hack, contacted Joan Miró (more info here, German).

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By the way, as I mentioned it I don’t think I can sneak out – for all the football fans out there: voilà, the Bernabéu Stadium, the “Real” home (which is actually not very “inviting”) ;):