What will happen to the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection? Based in Madrid, just opposite the Prado, it’s one of my favourite art galleries and I visit it whenever I’m updating our guide to Madrid.
The Thyssen-Bornemisza gallery is light, spacious and never too crowded and you can see a whole spectrum of art from early Renaissance to the twentieth century in a few hours, as we point out in Madrid mp3 tour. But now it looks as if a row between the Baroness, who still owns the paintings which have a value of about two billion dollars, and her son and heir will put the collection at peril.
The collection is on loan to the gallery and over the next year a decision will have to be made about whether that loan continues or whether the incredibly array of works of art go to a gallery abroad or are bought by the Spanish state. With the country in the grips of a deep recession and fears that it will default on loans this is hardly the time to go about spending huge amounts of money on art, many will say.
The collection of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza includes over a thousand works of art and was acquired by the Spanish state in 1993, with the help, of the Baroness, a former Miss Spain. It’s lovely building – light and spacious – and the paintings are presented in chronological order from early Renaissance works by Duccio, to twentieth century artists such as David Hockney. You can get a complete history of western art in a couple of hours.
The Museo forms one corner of Madrid’s golden triangle of art galleries.
Tags: Madrid art galleries, Madrid city guide, Madrid mp3 tour, Thyssen-Bornemisza collection