On June 13th a group of students and alumni of IE enjoyed a guided visit to the permanent collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. The guided visit was the second part of an activity arranged with the Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation. The first part was a conference at IE by the museum’s artistic director Guillermo Solana, who spoke about the origins of the collection and did an overview of the most important pieces.

We split into two groups, one in English and one in Spanish. It was a two-hour master class on western paintings. The tour started at Jan van Eyck’s The Annunciation Diptych and ended at Francis Bacon’s Portrait of George Dyer in a Mirror. Between those two pieces we enjoyed a grand tour through the most relevant European painters including some Americans ones. The explanations included amazing facts, such as the changes introduced by Titian at his Saint Jerome, how Canaletto’s paintings did not match with the real Venice, or how Rubens had to change the collar of a dress because it was outdated. Moreover, while discussing Kandinsky’s literary work- highly recommend is his book Concerning the Spiritual in Art– our tour guide started reciting verses of Shakespeare. It was an unforgettable moment.

On behalf of the IE, we would like to thank the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum for a wonderful afternoon, Elena Benarroch and Sonia Ruiz for organizing the visit and, finally, Elisa and Ines for their brilliant explanations and for sharing their passion for art.