Painting trumps architecture...

This show of Spanish painting at the Guggenheim looks terrific in that egotistical space. All the usual suspects--El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, Picasso, the middle two reigning over it all, gloriously. In all his breadth, Goya captivates. Her Grace the Duchess of Alba is there, as are his more earthy creatures. His "A Bandit Stripping a Woman (The Bandits' Attack II)" is shocking in its content, it could be torn from the front page of any current rag. Ladling humiliation on top of violence, Goya never minces in paint. Some inspired curating (not exactly related to the premise of the show): Zurbaran's large canvas of a Nazareth interior next to (aka separated by a wall from) Velazquez's oil of exuberant peasants at table, the connection/juxtaposition discernable only from across the rotunda. Stylization next to naturalism, humanity being paramount. Another favorite--Zurbaran's full-length "St. Francis of Assisi in His Tomb", the solitary, hooded figure cradling an upturned scull in both palms: gravitas, humility, finality. Subdued yet powerful.
The show is organized into themes, showing the more modern artists' source of inspiration. The paintings from Spain's Golden Age look all the better for it (and do they ever GLOW).
This is the best show of painting -- of its size -- that the Guggenheim, or any museum, has offered in years.

Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso, at the Guggenheim
212-423-3500
through March 28
www.guggenheim.org