Cristóbal Balenciaga has been the most important Spanish designer of all time. Born in Guipúzkoa at the end of the 19th century, he dedicated his life to creating haute couture designs that went around the world and have inspired other young designers. More than three decades of a career as a couturier that has nothing to envy to other prestigious ones of the time, and that is that he was contemporary in his time with myths such as Coco Chanel or Christian Dior. He developed his work mainly in Paris, but his work will always be linked to Spain.
The exhibition this summer
And now more than ever, since next summer the exhibition that perfectly combines his work with Spanish costumbrista painting from the 16th to the 20th centuries is inaugurated at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. A unique opportunity to learn about the work of this designer at the same time that you can enjoy great works of Spanish painting. The relationship between the two, and the inspiration that the couturier found in different forms of art, is evident in the first exhibition on Balenciaga to be held in the capital in the last 50 years.
Image: Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa
The exhibition is made up of a total of 90 pieces designed by Balenciaga that are perfectly complemented by a set of 55 paintings . The curator Eloy Martínez de la Pera has been in charge of choosing them, who has chosen some unpublished pieces created by the Basque couturier . (Video: Thyssen Museum) As for the works of art, you will be able to see the paintings of great masters in the history of Spanish painting, such as El Greco, Murillo, Velázquez, Zurbarán or Goya. The masterpieces of geniuses from the history of Spain together to create a set of great importance and relevance at an artistic and cultural level.
Balenciaga's designs tend to bet on very voluminous and heavy shapes, to which they incorporate beading , sequins or handmade embroidery. These are pieces that do not seek to go unnoticed, although black is her favorite color when choosing fabric. Cubist forms are very present in his designs, although his passion was the great masters of painting, such as Velázquez and Goya, whose influence you can see in detail on him.
The transparencies, the absence of buttons and collars, and the shapes reminiscent of the Japanese style are also present; like the tunics, in an attempt to give freedom of movement to the person, some of them influential personalities of high society.
How to see the exhibition
To get the most out of the exhibition, you should know that it is organized chronologically . Thus, the paintings have been arranged from the 16th century to the 20th century, so that you take a journey from the past to almost the present. Each painting is accompanied by one or more pieces by Balenciaga that have some relationship with the painting or with its author. This relationship can be based on the colors that predominate in the painting, on its shapes and volumes, or simply on some conceptual elements that can be found in the background of the painting.
The exhibition can be understood as an open dialogue between painting and fashion , so that both complement each other perfectly and form a whole full of creativity. Finding the sources of inspiration in each painting and how that has been applied to a canvas and its details will be your mission as a visitor to a unique exhibition, which opens the senses and alerts them to the combination of very different arts that have the same common bond.
You can enjoy it from next June and until September. With the name of Balenciaga and Spanish painting, the title is given to an exhibition that will surely be one of the star events in the capital this summer.
Take advantage of your visit to get to know Madrid and its fashion shops
We propose a perfect plan that combines the Balenciaga exhibition at the Thyssen Museum and a visit to our store in Plaza del Ángel . Very close to the aforementioned museum, it is so well located that you can also take the opportunity to complete the route of the so-called Art Triangle. This is the name given to the triad of the most important museums in the capital, which together with the Thyssen are the Prado and Reina Sofía Museums.
And if you spend several days in Madrid, don't forget to include an afternoon of shopping in your itinerary . Put our store on your list and enjoy the singularities of shopping in a city as special and elegant as Madrid. Surely after seeing the exhibition on one of the most important haute couture designers in our history you have some other good ideas to inspire you in the most exclusive luxury stores in the capital where innovative designs await you to dress up.
