In Madrid, the director of the Reina Sofia Museum, Manuel Borja-Villel, has made an agreement with Miguel Zugaza, that states 20 prints by Goya will go to the Reina Sofia, from the Prado, on a long term loan. This is controversial because the royal decree made in 1995 states that the Prado owns Spain's national art collection up to 1881 (Picasso's birth) and the Reina Sofia has art after 1881. The prints that are being loaned were made between 1799 and 1810 which elongates the spirit of the 1995 agreement and reorders a central theme of Spain's art historical conventions (theme that modernism started with Picasso). The work still belongs to the Prado, however, and is merely on loan. The Reina Sofia wanted the Goya's because the museum believes that Goya is a key part of understanding 20th century art. Join discussion...

Madrid's Prado Museum has seemingly been stuck in the past for the last century. But not anymore: the museum opened its brand new $ 219 million extension measuring 237,000 square feet last Wednesday, October 31 (If you're wondering, the extension was designed by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo and was a good $219 million). Before, the museum was cramped and haphazardly arranged. When new exhibitions were introduced, permanent paintings had to be moved and stored for the duration of the exhibit. The building lacked room and even a usable front entrance. Now, however, visitors can use a new front entrance, lecture hall, and cafe, and admire temporary exhibits that now have 15,000 square feet set aside just for them. The extension frees up space in the old building and allows plenty of new paintings, a number equal to half the museum's previous number of displayed art, to be displayed. Plus, from the outside, the new structure blends quietly into the surrounding neighborhood, effectively melding the art world and the ordinary one. Join discussion...