Prado breaks with tradition
The head of the Prado museum in Madrid, home to classic works by Goya, El Greco and Velazquez, has ignited a controversy in the Spanish art world by inviting a contemporary artist to exhibit there.
“The Prado is a depository of the past. It does not make sense to exhibit an artist whose work is still evolving,” said a former director of the museum, quoted in the London newspaper the Guardian.
Other traditionalists agreed that the Prado’s mission is to showcase historic art and leave contemporary art to the Queen Sofia museum.
The invitation to Miquel Barcelo -- an artist who, the Guardian said, has used insects, meat and rotten plants in his works -- was issued by the Prado’s Miguel Zugaza.
“The only thing we are trying to break are the barriers that prevent a natural relationship with contemporary art,” Zugaza said.
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