Exhibitions

Carmen Laffón. Themes and variations

Madrid, Spain

Contemporary Spanish figuration, with a deeply personal approach to landscape, still life, figure and sculpture.

Carmen Laffón El Coto desde Sanlúcar I 2005 Óleo sobre lienzo. 110 x 200 cm

Image credit

Carmen Laffón El Coto desde Sanlúcar I 2005 Óleo sobre lienzo. 110 x 200 cm. Colección privada

Meet the artist

The Movement

Naturalism, Realism

ArtLovers Tip

Choose one motif — a basket, a vineyard, a salt landscape — and follow how it changes across the exhibition. The beauty of Carmen Laffón is that she shows how returning to the same subject again and again is not repetition. It is a way of listening more deeply.

Exhibition Highlights - What you'll see

Laffón’s work is rooted in observation, but it is never simply descriptive. Her images often feel suspended between realism and atmosphere — precise enough to recognise, quiet enough to become emotional.

The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza brings a heartfelt celebration of the renowned Sevillian painter and sculptor, Carmen Laffón (1934-2021).

This showcase invites you to step into Laffón’s deeply personal world. Over a career spanning more than sixty years, she returned time and again to the places and subjects she loved most—from the streets of Madrid and Seville to the shores of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. You’ll see how her favorite motifs evolved over the decades, starting as simple variations and growing into stunning series during her later years.

The exhibition brings together around eighty captivating works, including oil paintings, delicate pastels, charcoal drawings, and sculptures. As you wander through the galleries, you’ll discover her unique take on classic themes like figures and landscapes, alongside the everyday objects that became her signature. From simple baskets and cupboards to the sun-drenched vines and salt mines of the Spanish coast, this collection offers a warm and intimate look at a legendary artist’s life and legacy.

Themes and Variations looks at the recurring subjects that shaped Carmen Laffón’s career. The exhibition is organised around classical genres that appear frequently in her work — figure, still life and landscape — as well as her own repeated motifs: baskets, cupboards, vines, lime/limescale and salt mines.

You’re watching:

  • Everyday objects transformed into quiet presences
  • Landscapes that feel more remembered than described
  • Still lifes where silence becomes the real subject
  • Sculptures from her mature period, shown alongside works on paper and canvas
  • A lifetime of returning to the same forms, not to repeat them, but to understand them differently

The exhibition is less about spectacle and more about attention. Laffón asks you to stay with what appears simple until it becomes profound.

Worth the trip

This exhibition matters because it shows how an artist can build an entire visual world through repetition, variation and patience. Across around eighty works, the Thyssen presents Laffón not as an artist of grand gestures, but as someone who found depth in the familiar.

Yes, if you want an exhibition that lowers your speed. It is the opposite of visual noise: a space for looking carefully at matter, light, domestic objects and landscapes that seem to hold time.

How to experience it

Don’t rush — this is an exhibition built on subtle changes.

Look for repetition: baskets, cupboards, vines, salt, landscape, figure.

Compare works from different periods and notice how the same subject changes emotionally.

Stand back first, then move close to see surface, tone and material.

Let the quietness work on you; Laffón’s power is not loud.

Madrid, Spain

Discover the destination

Experience art in Madrid

Spain

Art in Madrid — Museums, exhibitions & artworks worth traveling for.

From Velázquez to today’s global contemporary scene, Madrid turns a city break into an art journey.

Explore Madrid

Because you are an artlover,

Join our community of art enthusiasts and discover exhibitions, artists, and masterpieces tailored to your tastes. Get personalized recommendations and never miss a must-see show again.

Join us