Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum to Expand to a Second Location in Madrid

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid is expanding to a second location just a few blocks from its current site due to overcrowding in its galleries, El Pais reported. The project is slated to be complete in 2032. The museum, known as the Thyssen, was founded in 1992 by Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza to house his private collection.

The 107,639-square-foot building is known as the Ice and Automobile Palace and is located in Madrid’s Literary Quarter. The city-owned space has been unoccupied since 2007 and, prior to its reopening as a museum, the building will undergo a €70 million ($80.8 million) renovation.

There, more than 360 works by 21st-century artists will be displayed from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation’s contemporary art collection, known as TBA21, which was created by ARTnews Top 200 collector Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, daughter of the Baron.

“More than 30 years ago, the Thyssen family and the Spanish government made it possible for one of the world’s greatest art collections to become available to the public,” Ernest Urtasun, Minister of Culture, said in reference to the museum’s 1992 debut. “Today, this museum receives more than a million visitors, and this palace has become too small. This announcement is a giant step towards creating a larger, more open museum. Where we currently have a closed building, we want to see exhibitions, schools holding workshops, researchers working, restorers caring for the artworks, concerts, conferences, and spaces open to the public tomorrow; because we don’t simply want a bigger museum, we want a more useful museum.”

The deal took months of negotiations behind the scenes between government ministries, the museum, and the Thyssen family. Today, Minister of Finance Arcadi España announced that the government will transfer the new building to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation.

A crucial part of what reportedly sealed the deal was Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza’s decision to donate 186 works, valued at nearly €16 million ($18.5 million), from her personal collection, which will become part of the larger Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. She additionally guaranteed a long-term loan of 179 pieces worth €10 million ($11.5 million).

“My dream is not only to bring our collection to this new museum, but to give it a place worthy of what we have built over this time,” said Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza.

“We cannot incorporate new works of art into our collections unless they are donations or loans from the Thyssen family,” Guillermo Solana, artistic director of the Thyssen, added. The museum’s new location will also house the 21st-century art collection belonging to Borja Thyssen and his wife Blanca Cuesta. (Borja is the son of the Baron and his 5th wife Carmen Cervera.)

Other museum departments such as “the archive, the works storage facility, the restoration workshop, the activities center, etc.,” will be relocated to this new building as well, while another section of the building will house a memorial center for the victims of terrorism, which will be managed by the Ministry of the Interior, according to Solana.

The building’s renovation will be supported by the Ministry of Finance through the Directorate General of State Heritage, while the Ministry of Culture and the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum will cover costs for the museography, equipment, and furnishings.

This year, the Ministry of Culture is expected to put out a call for architectural design competitions for the renovation, with the winning design drafted between 2027 and 2028 and construction slated to start in 2029.