Thyssen Bornemisza Museum Tour: A Guided Crash Course with Skip-the-Line Tickets

Housed in the remodeled eighteenth-century Palacio de Villahermosa, the Thyssen-Bornemisza is Madrid’s second most important museum, located just a few minutes walk from the Prado. It has both a permanent collection, once the world’s largest private collection of Old Master and Modern paintings, and the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, on loan to the museum since 2004. This 3-hour private Thyssen Bornemisza Museum tour with skip-the-line tickets will traverse the collection, from fourteenth-century European paintings to twentieth-century American masterpieces. In the company of an expert art historian, our tour will weave the history and context of these works into the fascinating story of three generations of collecting by the Thyssen-Bornemisza family.

Our tour begins in the Permanent Collection, displayed chronologically across three floors. Highlights include Duccio’s panel from the Siena Cathedral’s altarpiece, Jan van Eyck’s *Annunciation* diptych, and Ghirlandaio’s luminous portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, once owned by J.P. Morgan. We’ll also explore masterpieces by European artists from the 16th to 18th centuries, ranging from religious paintings to landscapes and portraits, many acquired by Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza during the early 20th century. Additionally, we’ll delve into the remarkable Dutch 17th-century works on the first floor and discover the museum’s surprising strength in American art, featuring Hudson River School landscapes and pieces by Homer, Sargent, and others. The collection also boasts exceptional German Expressionist works like Kirchner’s *Street with Red Streetwalker* and Franz Marc’s *The Dream,* reflecting the baron’s passion for diverse artistic movements.

Descending to the ground floor, we’ll encounter 20th-century art, including Cubist masterpieces by Picasso and Braque and photorealistic works by Richard Estes. The tour concludes in the museum’s expansion, featuring the Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza’s collection. Here, we’ll see Old Master works like Vanvitelli’s *Piazza Navona* vedute, American Luminist landscapes, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist gems, including Gauguin’s *Mata Mua,* and early modernist pieces. This section also offers insight into the challenges of curating a world-class collection in the 21st century, celebrating the shared vision of the baron and baroness in creating a truly global museum.