Let’s face it, most people come to Bilbao to see the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum.
And to groan at the huge flower covered dog
Created by (it’s not hard to guess) Jeff Koons.
That was certainly the case when we planned the trip with our friends Philip and Catherine.
After all, it is a beautiful thing to behold.
And provides oodles of visual interest along the river in the heart of the city.
It has also done a remarkably effective job in spurring the revitalization of this mountain-wrapped, industrial port city (founded in 1300) that is the gateway to Basque Country.
The recently spruced up market, further along the river by the old part of the city, is also a great place to feast on tapas or pintxos (in Basque). Sitting in a common area, you check out the wares at the different vendors and try different plates of extravagant compositions. There are lots of anchovies.
Wandering the city has its own visual rewards. This last imposing looking palace was, in fact, a palace. Philip and Jim walked in and talked with the guard who explained that the building houses the official presence of Spain in the city. Hmmm. We understand that both the Basque territory (comprised in a few different provinces) and Catalonia have more autonomy than other provinces.
We also visited the Basque museum where this iconic representation of Basque identity is given pride of place. Looks kind of like a . . . some kind of a . . . boar (?) with a disc. It’s known as the Mikeldi and is from the Iron Age.
The museum features displays on the seafaring and shepherding life of the Basque (who curiously have a cultural center in Boise, Idaho where many Basque seem to wind up). This wolf trap was easier to understand in a museum with signage only in Basque and Spanish. It was also grimly interesting.
But, back to that art theme suggested by the Guggenheim – don’t expect a lot of art inside Mr. Gehry’s sculptural tour-de-force. For one thing, the design doesn’t allow much interior exhibit space (although there are some interesting installations that make a visit worthwhile). To see art in Bilbao, all you need to do is go next door to the art museum where the collection is varied and of a very high quality. We enjoyed it quite a bit, especially because we saw artists with whom we weren’t as familiar, such as Joaquin Sorolla (the scene of Granada in the last photo).
The ceramicist Francisco Durrio
Dario de Regoyas
And some interesting pieces from the 15th and 16th centuries. Something for everyone. By the way, the enormous painting of the matador by Ignatio Zuloaga is on loan from the Hispanic Society of America. Interesting.
No, Picasso’s Guernica is not in Bilbao. Having lived its own life in exile until it was reluctantly returned by the MoMA to Spain under the terms of Picasso’s will, it is now installed in its own gallery in Madrid. However, the art museum in Bilbao (not far from the town of Guernica, “Gernika” in Basque) maintains a fascinating exhibit of a number of Picasso’s sketches for the work, as well as other anti-war art, including some pieces inspired by Picasso’s work.
These included an untitled painting by Jackson Pollack from 1951 in a size (roughly 12″x15″) we weren’t used to seeing from him.
In yet another proof of the theory of “six degrees of separation,” we later met an American (Frank, or “Patxo”) in a cooking class in San Sebastián (or “Donostia” in Basque) whose mother hid in an orchard during the attack on Guernica by Italian Fascist and Nazi German warplanes (at the request of Franco and the Spanish Nationalists).