What can you recommend for visiting a museum of this level? Look, admire, enjoy! All these processes will take approximately 2.5-3 hours. If you look at the exhibits in all three galleries of the Golden Triangle of Arts, then multiply the hours by 3.

From a private collection to a world-class state museum (a little history)

The history of the amazing and world famous Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Then the founder of the steel empire, August Thyssen, devotes his free time and a lot of money to his passion for fine art. He begins to collect paintings by world painters.

His passion was passed on to his children. One of richest people in Europe, Augustus's son, Heinrich von Thyssen-Bornemisza (pictured on the right, click on the photo to enlarge) added exhibits to the main part of the collection. In almost 30 years (1920-1947) he acquired more than fifty paintings. Works from American collections come to Heinrich Thyssen due to financial difficulties experienced by their owners (the well-known Great Depression). Private collections were bought from wealthy industrialists and relatives. Having moved to Switzerland, the family exhibits them in a private gallery and gains fame throughout the world.

Thyssen-Bornemisza's business and paintings are divided between Heinrich's children. The eldest son Hans expanded his father's legacy. He was fond of Italian painting, collected tapestries, ceramics, ivory, crystal, jewelry masterpieces, and antique furniture.

The bulk of the collection was housed in the former residence of Prince Friedrich Leopold near Lake Lugansk. In 1986, Baron Thyssen decides to move his treasures to another building and announces the search for a new home for the collection.

Several states entered the fight. Spain won, buying the family collection from the heirs for $350 million. Why Spain? It’s just that Baron Hans tied the knot with Carmen Cervera Soledad (now Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemissu), winner of the title “Miss Catalonia -1961”.

In 1993, the private collection became state. But the Thyssen-Bornemisza family did not stop adding exhibits to the gallery. About two hundred paintings were transferred to the gallery by Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, retaining ownership of the paintings. It was necessary to expand the building. And so some of the works found “their home” in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia in Barcelona.

Next to the Palace of the Dukes of Villahermosa, on Marques de Cubas Street, a building is being built that is a continuation of the museum (pictured on the left, click on the photo to enlarge). The baroness's private collection is on display here. To be honest, the ancient palace does not quite fit with the modern design of the new building. But thanks to the new construction, the gallery now has a terrace on which the El Mirador restaurant is located, which has become a popular place for relaxation and a snack for lovers of real art. Here you can try many masterpieces, prices are about 1.5 times higher than the Madrid average.

The museum management has established contacts with art centers in different corners world, so visitors have a unique opportunity, coming to the museum again, to find something new and interesting in it. They are also “friendly” with the Internet. You can see the museum's collections on the website.

Masterpieces among masterpieces (what to watch)

In the spacious halls of the gallery it is easy to get lost among the originals of outstanding painters. Let's take a look at a few works worth watching. It’s hard to say that “they are the best.” In the museum, every work is a world masterpiece. The museum's collection consists of 4 sections:

Works by old masters are included in the largest section. Paintings from the 13th and 14th centuries are displayed here. Among others, you will find exhibitions by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Holbein, and Memling.

The second section is devoted to works of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo. Among others, “Madonna” by Titian (photo on the right, click to enlarge), “Self-Portrait” by Rubens, paintings by Veronese and Tintoretto, Gainsborough.

The third section is reserved for impressionism and post-impressionism. The works of Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, Degas (one of his “Ballerinas”), van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec sparkle with splendor. And 8 more paintings by Picasso, works by Kandinsky, the famous painting by Salvador Dali “The Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate, a Second Before Awakening,” works by Marc Chagall.

Paintings by American artists of the 19th and 20th centuries are found in the fourth section. Here you can see works of painting by Roy Lichtenstein and Jackson Pollock.

Don't miss the Portrait of a Knight by Vittore Carpaccio. Portrait of a man in full height became the first such canvas in the history of Western art (by the way, one of Thyssen’s first acquisitions).

Pay attention to the symbol of the museum - the painting by the Florentine master Domenico Ghirlandaio “Portrait of Giovanna Toranbuoni”.

The museum is proud to own Caravaggio's Saint Caroline, Picasso's Man with a Clarinet and Wassily Kandinsky's Painting with Three Spots.

It is impossible to talk about more than 800 works. Come to the gallery and see everything for yourself.

This is one of the most popular museums visual arts capital of Spain, which is part of the Golden Triangle of Arts of Madrid, along with the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía Arts Center. His collection spans a period of more than 800 years.
The history of this world-famous museum is connected with the name of the founder of the steel empire, the largest German industrialist August Thyssen, who devoted a lot of his free time and money to his passion for fine arts.

IN late XIX- At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began collecting paintings by famous painters. He passed on his hobby to his descendants: his son Heinrich von Thyssen-Bornemisza acquired more than 50 paintings in almost 30 years.

Most of them went to the millionaire during the Great Depression in the United States, when many rich people sold paintings from their collections for pennies due to financial difficulties. After moving to Switzerland, the family exhibited their rich collection in a private gallery, gradually gaining worldwide fame. Thyssen-Bornemisza's eldest son, Hans, expanded his father's legacy: he was fond of Italian painting, collecting ceramics, tapestries, ivory, crystal, jewelry and antique furniture. The family housed the bulk of its collection in the mansion, the former residence of Prince Friedrich Leopold, near Lake Lugansk, but in 1986 Baron Thyssen began looking for a new building for the ever-expanding collection.

At the same time, Hans married the Spanish beauty Carmen Cervera Soledad, who held the title “Miss Catalonia 1961” and thus inextricably linked his life with Spain.

At first Art Gallery moved to Madrid. A little later, the Kingdom bought the family collection from the heirs for $350 million, and in 1993, the world's largest private collection became public, but the Thyssen-Bornemisza family continued to replenish it with exhibits. About 200 paintings were donated by Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, although she retained ownership of them.

The collection currently occupies the Palace of the Dukes of Villahermosa, near the Prado Gallery. This is a squat red and white 3-story building with rows of identical lattice balconies, which was expanded in 2004 with an additional building, creating a single space for holding thematic exhibitions and presentations. Some of the works are housed in the National Museum of Art in Barcelona. According to experts, the real value of the collection is more than 700 million euros.

The world-famous Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza) is located not far from the Prado Museum in the Villahermosa Palace, built at the beginning of the 18th century.

In front of the museum there is a famous sculpture “Night” by Antonio Lopez Garcia- the head of a sleeping child.

History of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Until 1993, the museum's richest collection belonged to Thyssen Bornemisza family and was one of the largest private art collections in the world.

The private collection was started by the prominent German industrialist August Thyssen, who was a passionate art collector.

During the Great Depression, he bought from private American collections a huge number of masterpieces of world art that were taken from the war. European countries during World War II.

Painting by Vittore Carpaccio “Portrait of a Knight”, 1510

In total, the baron bought more than five hundred paintings; one of his first acquisitions was "Portrait of a Knight" by Victor Carpaccio.

His work was continued by his descendants. A particularly great contribution to the family hobby was made by Heinrich von Thyssen-Bornemisza, who inherited from his father not only the family business, but also his love of art.

Later the Thyssens moved to Switzerland, where they opened a private art gallery that became widely known throughout the world.

The baron's descendants collected not only works of art, but also other valuables - in particular, Hans Thyssen-Bornemisza was fond of jewelry. He significantly expanded the range of the collection with pieces of antique furniture, tapestries, ceramics, ivory and crystal.

When in the late 80s of the last century the baron announced that he was looking for premises for his unique collection, many countries began to compete for the right to exhibit them in their museums.

The decisive role in the choice of Madrid was played by the baron's wife, a former Spanish fashion model, winner of the Miss Catalonia -1961 beauty contest.

The picture gallery was first exhibited in Madrid at an exhibition at the National Library in Madrid. Later in 1993, with the active mediation of Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza, most of the collection was purchased by the Spanish government for 44,100 million pesetas ($350 million).

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum - visitors admire famous paintings

According to some estimates, this was a very underestimated amount. Currently, its value reaches 700 million Euros.

After the death of her husband, the baroness continued to expand the collection, which she annually leases to the state. Her personal collection, consisting of two hundred paintings, is exhibited in a separate room.

Some of the collection's exhibits are exhibited in museums in Barcelona and other cities in Spain.

Famous exhibits of the museum


The collection of the famous museum includes numerous works different eras European and American painting, Renaissance, paintings in the styles of realism, impressionism, primitivism, expressionism, mannerism, baroque, gothic by Spanish, Italian, Dutch masters.

Here you can literally trace the entire European history of fine arts.

The museum displays paintings on religious and mystical subjects, magnificent landscapes and portraits. Famous works by such recognized masters of world art as Domenico Ghirlandaio, Vittore Carpaccio, Caravaggio, Gauguin.

Connoisseurs of El Greco have the opportunity to admire his painting “The Annunciation”.

A separate exhibition is dedicated to the works of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists - Van Gogh, Renoir, Modigliani, Claude Monet, Degas.

The museum's treasury contains works by Russian artists - “Gray Houses, Vitebsk” by Marc Chagall, paintings by Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich.

The collection of works of the twentieth century presents works by the brush Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Hopper.

“Grey Houses, Vitebsk” by Marc Chagall written in 1917

The museum is especially proud of the painting by the great surrealist of the 20th century - Salvador Dali.

One of the most famous works Thyssen-Bornemisza collections – portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, which is considered the symbol of the museum, painted by the famous Florentine artist Domenico Ghirlandaio.

The undoubted pearls of the collection are "St. Caroline" brushes Caravaggio, "Man with a Clarinet" by Picasso And "Painting with Three Spots" by Wassily Kandinsky.

Reference information for tourists:

The museum is located at: Paseo del Prado, 8

Working hours: The museum is open daily from 10-00 to 19-00, only on Monday you can enter the museum from 12-00 to 16-00 and only in the main hall.

The museum hosts additional exhibitions; as a rule, you can visit them on Saturdays until 21-00.

How to get to the museum: You can get there by metro, station – Banco de España (Second line).

In addition, city buses No. 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 14, 15, 20, 27, 34, 37, 41, 51, 52, 53, 74, 146 and 150 go to the museum.

The museum has public parking for cars.

Entrance to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum costs 7 euros

General admission ticket price for adults – 7 € – 10 €, on Monday admission is free. If you want to attend additional exhibitions, you will need to pay an additional 6€ to 17€

Children under twelve years of age, officially unemployed people (with an identification document) and members of the International Council of Museums can enter free of charge.

Discount tickets available: pensioners, people over 65 years of age, students (regardless of age and nationality, provided they have an identification document), teachers of fine arts departments, members of large families, disabled people and their accompanying persons.

30 minutes before closing, access to the museum is terminated. Visitors must leave the museum five minutes before closing.

Tickets can be purchased at the box office at the entrance or on the website https://entradas.museothyssen.org/espanol/individual/index.php

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is undoubtedly a unique collection of masterpieces of world art, a visit to which will bring great pleasure even to people far from the world of painting.

However, it attracts not only with its rich collection of paintings. The open terrace of the El Mirador restaurant at the museum, which offers a magnificent panorama of the city, is a favorite place for residents and guests of the Spanish capital.

, history presented European painting from the Middle Ages to the end of the twentieth century.

Taking into account the diversity and size of the museum's collection, which includes more than a thousand works of art, we recommend starting your visit with the part of the collection that is most interesting to you. Italian primitivists, German Renaissance, 19th century American painting, impressionism, German expressionism and Russian constructivism - schools and movements best represented in the museum's collection.

Collection

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum's collection is in some respects qualitatively different from other Spanish museums. The work of Duccio di Buoninsegna “Christ and the Samaritan Woman”, representing the painting of the Trecento (XIV century in Italy), and the grisaille (imitation of a sculptural relief) “Diptych of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary” Jan van Eyck, belonging to the Flemish primitive school, are the main works of the collection of art of the Late Middle Ages. In addition, the museum’s collection contains selected portraits dating back to the 15th century, among which the portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni by the artist deserves special attention Domenico Ghirlandaio and "Portrait of a Knight" Vittore Carpaccio. Works Durer, Caravaggio, Rubens, Frans Hals And Canaletto will help us get an idea of ​​the evolution of art in the 16th - 18th centuries.

The museum's halls also well represent landscape and genre painting - themes most often found in the Dutch school of the 17th century and American painting of the 19th century. These same themes are represented in the museum by works of Romanticism artists, for example Friedrich, impressionists Monet And Degas, post-impressionist Gauguin And Van Gogh.

The last rooms contain a fairly complete collection of various movements of the twentieth century: Fauvism, Expressionism, Surrealism, abstract painting and pop art. Here are some of the most famous paintings presented in this museum: “Harlequin with a mirror” Picasso, "Painting with three spots No. 196" Kandinsky, “A dream caused by the flight of a bee around a pomegranate, a second before awakening” Dali, "Rooster" Chagall, "Hotel room" Hopper and "Woman in the Bathroom" Liechtenstein.

Baron Heinrich

The museum's collection, first loaned for nine and a half years and then acquired in 1993 by the Spanish government, was assembled by the late Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and his father Baron Heinrich.

Baron Heinrich began collecting the collection in the 20s of the last century. He managed to acquire about 525 paintings. In 1947, after the collector's death, the works were distributed among his heirs, and his son, Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, set himself the task of reassembling his father's collection, buying it from his relatives.

Villa Favorita in the Swiss town of Lugano, purchased by the baron father to store the collection, turned out to be small, and Hans announced that he was looking for new house for your art collection. Due to the proximity of the Prado Museum and the excellent characteristics of the building proposed by the Spanish government, the Baron's choice fell on Madrid Villahermosa Palace, built at the end of the 18th century and restored under the direction of Rafael Moneo.

Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection

After transferring the collection to Spain, the baron and his wife continued to acquire works of art. After the death of her husband, Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza did not leave his business, and today the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza collection is presented in 16 new rooms.

The Baroness's collection is distinguished by the presence of a large number of landscapes: veduta, 19th-century painting, American school, as well as more significant works of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. The historical panorama is closed by the first avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, among which Fauvism and German Expressionism are of particular importance.


In Madrid, almost every museum houses artistic treasures from different movements and eras. A passion for painting is characteristic of man at all times, so the monarchs of Spain for many centuries collected collections of canvases, tapestries, and engravings. But when a sophisticated tourist wants to see something like that, he will certainly visit the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

This museum is the largest private collection of paintings in the world until 1993, now state-owned. In this matter, Spain managed to bypass its constant rival, Great Britain. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is located in and is included in the Golden Triangle of Arts along with and. The collection of paintings contains works by Dutch, English and German schools, paintings by Italian artists, as well as little-known works by American masters of the second half of the twentieth century. The paintings occupy all the rooms of the Duke of Villahermosa's palace, a small part of which is currently exhibited in Barcelona.

Historical touches

The collection of paintings began during the Great Depression, when there was a massive resale of works of art due to financial difficulties. Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza was a wealthy German industrialist, which allowed him to begin buying masterpieces from American caches, European collections, and from relatives and return them to their historical homeland, Europe. The first purchase was the work of Vittore Carpaccio “Portrait of a Knight”. In total, the baron bought about 525 paintings, which were transported to Sweden and framed for the first exhibition.

In 1986, at the invitation of the Spanish government, the entire collection (and this is already about 1,600 masterpieces!) moved to Madrid in the city center to the palace, and six years later, through the mediation of the baron’s wife, all the paintings were purchased by the Kingdom on special conditions. According to experts, the transaction price was approximately three times lower than the market value.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum contains works by such masters as Memling, Carpaccio, Albrecht Durer, Raphael, Rubens, Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Egon Schille, Rubens, Gauguin and many others. For almost a hundred years, one family has collected unique creations of all directions.

The eras are arranged chronologically, starting from the 13th century and ending with modern times. The baron's heirs continue to buy the paintings and place them in the museum, which, due to a shortage of premises, they decided to expand in 2004. As a result, a modern exhibition complex with an open terrace was added to the castle. The museum also hosts thematic exhibitions and concerts.

When and how to visit?

The art gallery in Madrid is open every day from 10 am to 7 pm; for temporary exhibitions, the opening hours are set individually. A ticket to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum can be purchased at the box office, online or ordered by phone. There are discounts for pensioners and EU students, children under 12 years old are free. Check the website for ticket prices and opening hours. In the museum you will not be allowed to go inside with large bags, backpacks, umbrellas, or food. Also, photography is not allowed.

The Thyssen Bornemisza Museum can be reached:

  • line L12 to Banco de España station;
  • on route buses No. 1, 2, 5, 9,10, 14, 15, 20, 27, 34, 37, 41, 51, 52, 53, 74, 146 and 150;
  • by train to Atocha Station or Recoletos Station;
  • by car at the coordinates: longitude - -3.694894122753908, latitude - 40.41582644548819.