By Teresa de la Vega


“We owe much of our pleasure in looking at the world to the great artists who have looked at it before us,” wrote Kenneth Clark. the great British historian. Few activities are more enriching than travelling and looking at art, for these broaden our horizons and minds and nourish our spirit. They also enable us to meet others and get to know ourselves.

The gaze of the traveller — like that of the visitor to a museum — is curious and inquisitive. It is eager to discover new things of beauty and riddles to solve, and be enriched by views of unknown territories, the memories of which will last forever. Each new journey, each new artist discovered helps to open the doors of our perception, prompts new adventures, allows us to witness the diversity of human experience and helps to expand our awareness of our own identity.

Momentarily removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we are transported by our thematic route through the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza rooms to a land (as in Baudelaire’s dream in Invitation to the Voyage) where “all is order and beauty, luxury, peace and pleasure”. Here there are countless surprises in store for the visitor and we hope that, like the inveterate traveller, he or she will want to come back to see more of the unusual routes and revelations awaiting those who return.

Tour artworks