Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Santander y Cantabria

The Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Santander y Cantabria, commonly known as MAS, is the principal art museum of Cantabria, located in the coastal city of Santander in northern Spain. Founded in 1907 and opened to the public in February 1908, it is the region's foremost institution for modern and contemporary art, housing a collection that spans from the 16th century to the present day. The museum's evolution from a municipal library and general museum to a specialized institution reflects the broader development of public art collections in Spain during the 20th century.

The institution originated as the Biblioteca y Museo Municipales, established in 1907 through the initiative of Mayor Luis Martínez and opened on 6 February 1908 in rooms of the Santander city council building. Its early collection encompassed paintings, sculptures, archaeological finds, natural history specimens, and ethnographic objects. In 1916, architect Leonardo Rucabado was commissioned to design a new building; construction began in 1917, Alfonso XIII laid the cornerstone in 1918, and the building was completed in 1923 after Rucabado's death. The library moved to adjacent premises in 1941, allowing the museum to occupy the entire structure. The museum was reorganized and reopened as the Museo Municipal de Pinturas on 3 November 1947, shedding its archaeological and natural history collections to regional institutions. It became the Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes de Santander in 1957. Between 1978 and 1993, the museum expanded its holdings of younger and Cantabrian artists, renovated its interiors, and increasingly focused on modern and contemporary art. The current name was adopted in 2011.

The museum holds approximately 1,870 works across painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and installation art. About 100 pieces are by Spanish, Flemish, and Italian artists from the 16th through 18th centuries, while the majority date from the late 19th century to the 21st century. Spanish artists predominate, with roughly 150 works by foreign artists. The collection has grown particularly strong in modern and contemporary art since the late 1970s, with significant attention to artists from Cantabria. The museum publishes the journal Trasdós and exhibition catalogues.

The most celebrated work is Francisco de Goya's portrait of Ferdinand VII, painted around 1814 in approximately fifteen days for the Santander Municipal Council; the background incorporates an allegory of grateful Spain with broken chains and symbolic elements. The museum also holds Goya's 1816 tauromachy etchings. From the modern era, the collection includes Pablo Picasso's 1931 etchings from the Vollard Suite and Umberto Pettinicchio's 1981 painting The Death of the Bull (130 x 97.4 cm). Other significant works include an Adoration of the Shepherds attributed to Luca Giordano and paintings by regional artists including María Blanchard, Casimiro Sáinz, Manuel Salces, Francisco Iturrino, Agustín Riancho, Pancho Cossío, and Antonio Quirós.

The museum occupies the building designed by Leonardo Rucabado (1875-1918), constructed between 1917 and 1923 in a historicizing style. The exterior presents two articulated facades; the main facade features a false portal advanced from the building mass to create a portico opened by a large lowered arch. Decoration combines classical, neo-Herrerian, and regional elements including large columns, pediments, pyramids, spheres, and balusters. The floor plan is elongated with the staircase positioned at one end. The building is listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural, Spain's heritage register, under reference RI-51-0001399. The permanent collection is presently displayed across three floors, with the lower level dedicated to prints, contemporary painting, and temporary exhibitions.

The museum is located in Santander, the capital of Cantabria on Spain's northern coast. It operates as a municipal institution under its current name, the Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Santander y Cantabria. Information on visiting hours, access, and current exhibitions is available through its official website at http://www.museosantandermas.es/.