Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

Part of Madrid’s ‘Golden Triangle of Art’, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum is based around the collection of the Hungarian-German entrepreneur Heinrich Thyssen (or Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon et Impérfalva, to give him his full, somewhat unwieldy title), which was later expanded by his son, Hans. And what a collection it is…

In contrast to the relatively narrow focus of the nearby Prado and Reina Sofía galleries, in the Thyssen you’ll find a bit of everything; spanning more than 700 years of art history, the gallery runs from Gothic altarpieces all the way through to avant-garde abstraction. Major names here include Caravaggio, Vincent van Gogh, and Edward Hopper, but it would probably be just as easy to list who doesn’t feature.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the ground floor of the museum also hosts a selection of works owned by Hans Thyssen’s wife, Carmen, and far from a sideshow, this is every bit as strong as the rest of the gallery.

In fact, it’s Carmen we have to thank for the museum’s existence in the first place; when her husband was denied permission to expand the family’s gallery in Lugano, Switzerland, it was she who championed the idea of bringing the collection to her native Spain.