Exhibitions in Madrid
December 2026
December at a glance: 0 exhibitions opening, 2 closing, and 23 more on view across the city.
Closing in December
LAB 5: The Mechanics of Truth (exhibition)13 DecMatadero Madrid
A Medialab Matadero group show in Nave Una: unpublished, site-specific installations by five international artists probing how technology reshapes what counts as real.
The American Footprint in Madrid30 DecReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
Marks the 250th anniversary of the United States with a rare 1796 portrait of George Washington by Josef Perovani, shown beside Goya's portrait of Manuel Godoy.
Also on through December
Fardo, by Andrea Canepato 1 JanPalacio de Cristal · Free
A printed tarp wrapping the Palacio de Cristal's glass facade during restoration, inspired by pre-Columbian Paracas funerary textile bundles.
Women Artists: Pathways through Pre-Raphaelitism (1850-1914)to 10 JanFundación MAPFRE – Sala Recoletos
A survey of over forty women artists linked to the Pre-Raphaelite movement, tracing their careers and creative paths through the Victorian era.
The Other Face of the Avant-Gardeto 10 JanFundación MAPFRE – Sala Recoletos
Traces how Hans Prinzhorn's collection of psychiatric-patient artwork influenced Expressionist, Dadaist and Surrealist artists, and its later revival as Art Brut by Jean Dubuffet.
Minor Whiteto 10 JanFundación MAPFRE – Sala Recoletos
The first European retrospective of American photographer Minor White, marking 50 years since his death, covering nature, portraiture and his innovative photographic sequences.
Mauritshuis Thyssen-Bornemisza: Masterpieces from The Hagueto 10 JanMuseo Thyssen-Bornemisza
The Mauritshuis and the Thyssen exchange 25 Dutch masterpieces, including Vermeers View of Delft, shown across the museums classical rooms.
The Aesthetic Transition: Spain, 1960-2020to 10 JanFundación Juan March · Free
How Spanish audiences encountered modern and contemporary art from the 1960s to today, told through exhibitions, institutions and countercultural spaces.
- Works in Passing: Cerralbo and the Women Who Protected Cultural Heritageto 10 Jan
Museo Cerralbo
A portrait of writer Emilia Pardo Bazán, on loan from A Coruña, spotlighting women who championed heritage preservation alongside the Marquis of Cerralbo.
Kenny Scharfto 17 JanMuseo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Retrospective of the East Village artist and urban art pioneer, with paintings, sculptures, installations and murals blending pop culture and surrealism.
Seba Calfuqueo. Cautinto 17 JanMuseo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Mapuche artist Seba Calfuqueos first European solo show, exploring the Cautin River through ceramics, video and embroidered paintings.
Arte Plumario. Naturaleza, Identidad y Poderto 17 JanMuseo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales
An interdisciplinary look at feathers as cultural and symbolic material across world cultures, from historic featherwork to contemporary art by Henar Iglesias.
- Miguel Ángel Blanco: Amberto 17 Jan
Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas · Free
Artist Miguel Ángel Blanco closes his trilogy on remarkable materials with amber in its natural state, powder drawings, book-boxes and artistic pieces from Spanish collections.
Bailad, bailad, malditos (Carlos Aires)to 24 JanMatadero Madrid · Free
Carlos Aires transforms Nave 0, the slaughterhouse's fire-scarred former cold room, into a haunted dance floor of shored-up metal supports and some twenty screens, part of the Abierto x Obras site-specific series.
The Freudian Universe of Dalito 24 JanMuseo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Explores Salvador Dalis fascination with Sigmund Freud and their 1938 meeting, and how psychoanalysis shaped Dalis surrealist visual language.
- La moda a tus piesto 31 Jan
Museo del Traje · Free
A dialogue between Spanish fashion history and contemporary footwear: 35 showcases of the permanent collection paired with new shoe designs.
- Helena Rohner: Thirty Yearsto 31 Jan
Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas · Free
Retrospective of jewellery designer Helena Rohner, Gold Medal for Fine Arts, spanning three decades of porcelain, wood and ceramic pieces set in precious metals.
Manolo Millaresto 16 FebMuseo Reina Sofía
A centenary retrospective built around the visceral mixed-media works of Spanish Informalist painter Manolo Millares (1926-1972), exploring repression and human suffering through torn hessian and abstraction.
- Rilke and Spanish Artto 7 Mar
Museo del Prado
Marking the centenary of Rainer Maria Rilke's death, this show explores the poet's deep engagement with El Greco, Velázquez and Goya.
We Are Nature: An Immersive Audiovisual Experienceto 7 MarCaixaForum Madrid
A 70-minute immersive audiovisual journey through biodiversity, produced with National Geographic and OASIS Immersive Studios, urging action to protect the natural world.
La Menesunda According to Marta Minujínto 8 MarMuseo Reina Sofía
A full-scale reconstruction of Marta Minujín and Rubén Santantonín 1965 immersive installation, alongside a survey of Minujín happenings and participatory actions from 1963-1985.
Fernando Sánchez Castillo: The Wayward Pearlto 8 MarPalacio de Velázquez · Free
A retrospective of over 200 works by Fernando Sánchez Castillo dismantling monuments and symbols of power, framed around the legend of a lost royal pearl.
Eli Cortiñas: The Machine Dreams of Smoketo 8 MarMuseo Reina Sofía
Eli Cortiñas revisits her 2016 work on cinema, museums and colonial imagery, adding new AI-generated installations that critique how algorithms and institutions perpetuate power imbalances.
Miguel Ángel Rojas: The Nightto 15 MarMuseo Reina Sofía
Five decades of work by Colombian artist Miguel Ángel Rojas, spanning early installations on rural migration to contemporary pieces addressing narco-trafficking and Amazon exploitation.
Interior Berlanga: Film, Life and Humourto 23 MayCaixaForum Madrid
An intimate, immersive look at filmmaker Luis Garcia-Berlanga (1921-2010), drawing on his newly catalogued personal archive of film, life and humour.
Stay in the loop on Madrid
A short note now and then when something new opens worth your time.