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A big collection
It was once the second largest private collection in the world
With over 1,600 paintings, the Thyssen collection was once the second largest private collection in the world after the British Royal Collection. The museum fills the historical gaps in the Prado and the Reina Sofía.
The Depression
The Baron bought from American millionaires hit by the Great Depression
Heinrich, Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza started the collection in the 1920s. One of his sources was the collections of American millionaires coping with the Great Depression and inheritance taxes. His son Hans Heinrich expanded it, from Gothic art to Lucian Freud.
From Lugano
A rejected extension in Lugano sent the collection to Madrid
The collection was housed in a twenty-room building in Lugano. In 1988 the Baron asked to build an extension, but Lugano's city council rejected it. In 1985 he had married Carmen Cervera, a former Miss Spain, and her influence was decisive in persuading him to move the core of the collection to Spain.
Opening
The museum opened in 1992 with 715 works
The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum officially opened in 1992, showing 715 works of art. A year later the Spanish Government bought 775 works, which are now in the purpose-built museum in Madrid.
Salmon pink
The Baroness chose the salmon pink of the walls herself
Baroness Thyssen remains involved with the museum. She personally decided the salmon pink tone of the interior walls. In 2021 the Ministry of Culture finalized an agreement to borrow her collection for 15 years.
Day 2, midday
It comes after Prado Museum. Then Retiro Park.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.