16 March, 2026
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, one vertex of a triangle with Museos del Prado and Reina Sofia, is a box of bon-bons for art lovers. It checks all of my boxes for a fun cultural adventure on a second date.
The perfect time to visit Thyssen-Bornemisza is weekday mornings - no lines, no crowds, no noise, just time for you, me, and this collection - a chocolate sampler of great paintings from different periods.
The galleries are laid out by timeline, so we can walk straight to the period we choose and move from room to room to compare the works of contemporaires. For a first visit to Thyssen-Bornemisza, we may head straight to the early 20th century on the first floor and the interesting period around the Great War. I've linked a few of my favorite pieces, figurative art and city life, from these salas (rooms) below. Some I like for style, some for subject matter, some just move me :
Otto Mueller 1874-1930
Dos desnudos femeninos en un paisaje (1926)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1880-1938
Calle con prostituta de rojo (1914)
Desnudo de rodillas ante un biombo rojo (1911)
Desnudo sentado con pierna doblada (1921)
Franz Marc 1880-1916
El sueño (1912)
Paul Delvaux 1897-1994
Woman in the Mirror (1936) Not exhibited at this time, but one of his best.
After a contemplative hour in this lovely small museum, we can walk in Park Retiro and have coffee or lunch. For Michelin dining, we may try Restuarante Alabaster for a taste of Galicia.
For homework, I encourage you to explore some rooms in the museum's collection through it's virtual tour where you will find great examples of Renaissance masters, impressionist landscapes, abstract and pop-art. They me your favorites before our adventure, and I'll do my homework too.
