Programme
Thursday, 14 October 2021
10.00 Welcome by Guillermo Solana (Artistic Director, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid) and Juan Ángel López-Manzanares (Symposium’s Director).
Topic I. Gestation and Consolidation of the Collection.
10.30 Lecture 1: Profit and Passion: Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza on His Way to Becoming an Art Collector by Johannes Gramlich (Research Associate, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich).
11.15 Lecture 2: My Years at the Villa Favorita by Marco Grassi (former conservator at Villa Favorita).
12.00 Lecture 3: Creating a Great Collection. Edmund Peel (Director, Edmund Peel Fine Art Consulting)
Topic II. Artistic Guidelines and Trends in the Baron’s Collecting Activity.
15.00 Lecture 1: Hidden Gems: A Visit to La Moraleja by Roberto Contini (Curator of 16th and 17th-century Italian and Spanish Painting and 17th-century French Painting, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin).
15.45 Lecture 2: Going ‘Off Piste: Interview with Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, July 1989” by Peter Vergo (Emeritus Professor, University of Essex).
16.30 Panel
Speakers:
- A Rembrandt Puzzle by Ivan Gaskell (Professor of Cultural History and Museum Studies, Bard Graduate Center, New York).
- Why the Russian-Avant Garde? by Nicoletta Misler (Professor, Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale, Naples) and John Bowlt (Professor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles).
Moderator:
Paloma Alarcó (Chief Curator of Modern Painting, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid) .
Friday, 15 October 2021
Topic III. Anticipating Blockbusters: The Exhibitions of the 1980s.
10.00 Lecture 1: The Cultural Diplomacy of Baron H. H. Thyssen-Bornemisza: Personal Recollections of My Tenure as Curator of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection from 1979 to 1986 by Simon de Pury (former chairman and chief auctioneer of Phillips de Pury & Company, private dealer, art adviser, photographer and DJ).
10.45 Lecture 2: Private Collection, Public Space: The Evolution of the International Touring Exhibitions by Susan Moore (Associate Editor of Apollo magazine and author of a forthcoming biography of Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza).
11.30 Testimonies (video): Mikhail Piotrovsky (General Director, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg).
11.45 Panel
Speakers:
- The Tradition Continues: Exhibitions in Lugano and Abroad in the Second Half of the 1990s by Maria de Peverelli (former gallery director Villa Favorita, now Partner and Executive chairman Art Management, Stonehage Fleming).
- Small is Great by Elisabeth Hauff (former curator at Villa Favorita, Lugano).
- À la Recherche du Baron: The 1988 Royal Academy Exhibition by David Ekserdjian (Professor, University of Leicester).
Moderator:
Guillermo Solana (Artistic Director, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid).
Topic IV. A Destination for the Collection.
15.00 Panel
Speakers:
- Moving to a New Home by Lucia Cassol (former Head Registrar, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid).
- Why Villahermosa Palace? by Rafael Moneo (Architect).
- A Look at How the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Came to Spain by Miguel Satrústegui (Honorary Professor, Universidad Carlos III, Madrid).
Moderator:
Evelio Acevedo (Managing Director, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid).