El Torreon Contemporary Art Museum El Torreon

In 2013, with the theme of “La Rioja, tierra abierta” (“open land”), there’s an exhibit of 59 works by the Riojan painter Enrique Paternina, an important businessman in the wine industry in Haro.

Among his more significant works is the “La visita de la madre,” which earned him a silver medal in the 1892 Expo. You can also see the painting “Costumbres jarreras” (also known as “Los Borrachos” or “The Battle of Beer and Wine”), a large-scale reproduction of which adorns the façade of a building in Plaza de la Paz.

Enrique Paternina is one of La Rioja’s most illustrious painters of the 19th century. He was born in Haro and the Tierra Abeirta exhibit is a retrospective of his most interesting work. While the exhibit is fun for fans of painting, it’s also a fairly spot-on representation of life in that era. You can visit the exhibit in the museum of Contemporary Art.

The Contemporary Art Museum of Haro El Torreon enjoys a convenient location in the La Rioja town of Haro, where they used parts of the walls that were built during the 12th century for the defense of the city. The museum now houses a contemporary art collection of the authors of the community.