Baroness Thyssen could open Marbella museum

IT would be seen as a major coup in the art world.

And if, as sources suggest, Marbella can entice one of the world’s most important art collectors to open a museum there, the resort would become the envy of Spain.

The rumours come after aristocrat Baroness Thyssen revealed she was about to open a temporary exhibition in the town, following the launch of her second museum in Malaga.

The Baroness – who owns the world’s most expensive private art collection – revealed that she would be taking a travelling exhibition of her works to Marbella, after its run came to an end in Sant Feliu de Guixols, in Catalunya.

“I have been talking to the Town Hall and I would like to help with the tourism there,” the former Miss Spain revealed to El Mundo.

“Tourism needs art. We have been speaking to the mayor of Marbella about this. She is a woman that I admire because she has done so much for Marbella.

“At the moment we are in talks about opening a space in Marbella for temporary exhibitions.”

Expected to open in the Museo de Grabado early next year, the Baroness and Guillermo Solana, director of the Thyssen Museum in Madrid have already inspected the facilities.

The Baroness (whose husband, Swiss aristocrat Baron Thyssen died in 2002) is a frequent visitor to Marbella and has a villa in the resort.

According to the town hall, it is hoped she will establish a permanent gallery in a designated building in the Old Town, which could be as early as 2015.

“Baroness Thyssen is eager to show her collection in Marbella, and we would be delighted for her to be here” said a Marbella Town Hall spokesperson.

The Baroness, who will continue to loan her collection to the museum in Madrid for free for another year, denied that she would be imminently opening a museum in Barcelona.

“I’ve had proposals for a cultural centre in Montjuic, but at the moment nothing is going forward,” she said.