Brimming with art in Madrid

Madrid’s top three art museums are expanding, and if the first completed addition is any sign, art lovers are in for a pleasurable experience.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza, the third museum in the city’s “art triangle,” opened its new wing in June. Construction at the Prado, home to one of the foremost collections of Spanish and Flemish Old Masters, and at the Reina Sofia, which features 20th century and contemporary works, will continue into the fall.

The new wing exhibits the greater part of Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza’s collection -- most of it never before on permanent display -- which she began with her late husband, Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. (The couple first loaned, and then in 1993 sold, the original collection to Spain.)

Although the 200 works by Jan Brueghel, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky and other masters that line the new wing’s terra-cotta walls seem to illustrate a history of Western art, they also reflect the tastes of their patrons. There are few religious paintings; landscapes figure prominently.

From the outside, the modern glass-and-steel extension, which includes a light-filled cafe with an outdoor terrace, appears incongruous as it abuts the original museum’s 18th century brick Palacio de Villahermosa. Inside, however, the new wing, which adds 16 galleries, melds in form and content with the older collection.

A passageway off the Dutch galleries of the original museum leads to the new building, whose first rooms are also filled with 17th century works from the Netherlands. From there, the upstairs galleries progress chronologically through the 18th and 19th centuries. Downstairs, the new wing offers Impressionist and early 20th century avant-garde works before joining again with the original collection’s Fauvist and Expressionist rooms.

A single ticket (about $7.35 for adults, $5 for students and those older than 65, free for those younger than 12) gives access to the old and new wings. Temporary exhibits -- such as “Gerard David and the Flemish Landscape,” which runs through Aug. 22 -- on the new wing’s ground floor can be visited with an individual ticket (about $3.70) or one with access to all the collections ($8.60). The museum’s regular hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays; it stays open until 11 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays in July and August. For information, call 011-34-913-690-151 or visit www.museothyssen.org.