The Reina Sofía in 2 hours: the essential route

The route: 6 stops in 2 hours

Floors reflect the current layout of the collection, which changes often; the floor plan at the entrance shows which rooms are open. Timings are approximate.

1. 1

   0:00 · Sabatini · floor 2

   Picasso before Guernica

   Enter the collection dedicated to the start of the 20th century. Picasso's early work and Juan Gris's cubist paintings help you understand the leap in language that Guernica represents.

2. 2

   0:20 · Sabatini · floor 2

   Dalí, Miró and surrealism

   Walk through the surrealism rooms: Dalí's dream imagery and Miró's symbols.

3. 3

   0:45 · Room 206 · floor 2

   Guernica (Pablo Picasso, 1937)

   Give it 20 minutes. This nearly 8-metre mural was painted for the Spanish Republic's pavilion at the 1937 Paris World's Fair after the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica. Read it left to right: the bull, the mother with her dead child, the wounded horse and the eye-shaped light bulb. Studies and sketches nearby show how it evolved.

4. 4

   1:10 · Sabatini · floor 2

   Guernica study material

   Sketches and Dora Maar's photographs of the work in progress reveal Picasso's process.

5. 5

   1:20 · Sabatini · floor 4

   Art after 1945

   Head up to floor 4: informalism, pop and conceptual art in Spain and abroad after the war. Look for Tàpies, Chillida and Saura.

6. 6

   1:45 · Nouvel · exhibitions

   Temporary exhibition

   If you have time left, step into one of the exhibitions in the Nouvel building: the museum programmes a wide range of contemporary artists.

Tips to make the most of it

• Go at 10am or late on a weekday: the Guernica room fills up around midday.
• During the free hours (7pm–9pm), see Guernica first and leave the rest for later.
• Leave large backpacks in the free cloakroom; they are not allowed in the galleries.
• Point the AnyArt camera at any artwork to hear its story: a good alternative to an audio guide.