This is the Roberto Polo Collection, modern art in Toledo: hours, prices

You sure know that Toledo is known as the city ​​of three cultures for a history that is reflected in the Muslim, Jewish and Christian monuments and artistic corners.

But although until now it could be thought that it had a deficiency, that of modern and contemporary art, in 2019 it has been covered with the inauguration of the Roberto Polo Collection. Center for Modern and Contemporary Art of Castilla-La Mancha (CORO).

This new cultural space Of special interest to those passionate about the aforementioned modern and contemporary art, it is located in the building of the old convent of Santa Fe.

This place itself also reflects this mix of cultures, since it was originally a Muslim palace in the 9th century.

Who is Roberto Polo?

To understand the importance of this new museum of Toledo and its artistic collection, you should know that Roberto Polo is a plastic artist, historian and art collector born in 1951 in Cuba and with Spanish and Italian family origins.

Recognized from a very young age as a art prodigy, Roberto Polo He has presented exhibitions of his artistic work in museums and galleries in cities such as Washington DC, New York, Brussels, Paris, Padua or Vicenza.

Roberto Polo He has also developed important philanthropic work, sponsoring numerous artists of different styles.

What is the Roberto Polo Collection of Toledo like?

The impressive Roberto Polo's personal art collection It is made up of more than 7.000 works, of which 500 works have been transferred to Government of Castile-La Mancha for a renewable period of 15 years.

Up to 250 works are already on display in the new Toledo museum, and the rest are planned to be shown in a cultural venue in the city of Cuenca.

The collection that has arrived in our country brings together works by up to 170 artists from the historical avant-garde of northern, central and eastern Europe, as well as pieces by contemporary European and North American creators.

Among them stand out works of famous artists and others less known, such as Eugène Delacroix, Honoré Daumier, Henri-Edmond Cross, Georges Lacombe, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Max Hermann Pechstein, Wassily Kandinsky, Oskar Schlemmer, Kurt Schwitters, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Max Ernst.

Or also of Paul Joostens, Edmund Kesting, Marthe Donas, Franz Marc, Josef Peeters, Eileen Gray, Pierre-Louis Flouquet, Jozsef Rippl-Ronai, El Lissittzky, Victor Servranckx, Maria Mela Muter, Léon Spilliaert, Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, Karel Maes, Gustáv Miklos , Marc Eemans, Gustav Wunderwald and Georges Vantongerloo.

This is the experience of visiting the Roberto Polo Collection in Toledo, the best thing to see

The first thing that will catch your attention in the visit of the Roberto Polo Collection is that it maintains that spirit of cultural mix that characterizes the city of Toledo.

This permanent collection is displayed, on the one hand, in the rehabilitated building of the aforementioned old convent that they passed through since the Order of Calatrava and Conceptionists of Beatriz de SilvaUntil the Commanders of Santiago, for whom it is Isabel the Catholic He had it built, as well as his church (16th-18th centuries).

The large room where the visit begins shows you on its ceiling an imposing Mudejar coffered ceiling from the 15th century, room where the Assembly Hall of the school that housed this building before its definitive remodeling as a museum.

In this place you can also see the archaeological remains of the 9th century caliphal palace, the origin of the building, among which there is already an artistic installation, the work of the Spanish sculptor. NAVARRO.

This mix of architectural remains and contemporary works of art is also present in the following rooms.

In this regard, you will surely be struck by the reconstruction of the arcade of the aforementioned Caliphal palace, and the exhumed tombs of the abbesses, among which are various works that evoke monastic life.

The stay of what was old church of Santiago, work commissioned by Isabel the Catholic in 1503, has in its center the large sculpture of a recumbent Christ by the renowned Italian artist Nino Longobardi.

But surely what will surprise you the most is the sculpture of the Dutch woman Maria Roossen, Red Roosenary, a blown glass rosary that hangs from the carving of a 16th century virgin located in the old lobby.

Below you will see another of the most outstanding corners of this museum, the so-called Bethlehem Chapel, which is nothing but the place caliphal palace oratory, a space that was transformed into a funerary chapel by the Catholic orders that later occupied the building.

In the space that was apse of the church of the Calatrava Order you can see a sample of the gothic-mudejar architecture, and in the center, the work of the Italian Arturo Casanova, an allegory of the tomb of Amedeo Modigliani.

Also, in the old chapel and in the cloister that outside of caliphal palace and the Convent of Santa Fe others are located works of contemporary artists, maintaining that mix of artistic styles.

And then the visit will take you through various spaces that were the residence of the old convent, until completing a total of 16 rooms to explore in this museum.

As for the works you will see, it is a tour of the avant-garde of northern, eastern and central Europe, which begins with an introduction from the 19th century that reminds us that Roberto Polo art collection It did not begin in the 20th century, but once focused on the 18th century, until now reaching the 21st century.

Finally, regarding the relevance of this museum, it is worth mentioning that it has been distinguished as one of the Sotheby's Preferred Museums.

Visiting hours for the Roberto Polo Collection

Los Visiting hours of the Roberto Polo Collection in Toledo They are, Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m., and on Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 15 p.m., with last access 15 minutes before closing.

Visit the Roberto Polo Collection in Toledo for free

Currently, you can visit the Roberto Polo Collection in Toledo for free.

Map: where the Roberto Polo Collection is and how to get there

La Roberto Polo Collection. Center of Modern and Contemporary Art of Castilla-La Mancha is in the Miradero 3 walk, next to the elevator that takes you to the city center when you arrive there by train.