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| Shared Passions |
The Art of the Baroness
Nancy Holmes
08/02/2004
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When the collection outgrew the Villa Favorita, and museum curators were
begging your husband to donate it to them, he said you had persuaded him to
house it in Spain. Is this true?
Yes and no. Of course, I wanted my country
to have the collection, but many others had more than an equal chance to get it,
and all of them came up wanting. It took years. Prince Charles came to call, but
the British offered to house it either in the Docklands or up in Manchester,
neither of which was a fitting location for a collection of such importance. The
Swiss expected Heini to just sort of give it to them for nothing, typically
Swiss. The Getty brought a maquette of what it would build to house the
collection in California, but with no guarantee that it would retain the
Thyssen-Bornemisza name.
The late Duke of Badajoz, whose wife is the sister
of the King of Spain, was the important connection. Partially due to his
efforts, Spain agreed to refurbish the palace. At first the government was to
pay $80 million to share control of the foundation, and then agreed to pay $5
million a year for a nine-and-a-half-year lease, begun in 1992. However, in
1993, the government decided to buy it outright for $350 million.
Do you have a favorite in the collection?
Gauguin’s Mata Mua has always
been my favorite. It is now in the museum in Madrid so the world can see it.
Heini always felt that art should be shared, not locked away for only a few to
enjoy. The world came to us at the Villa Favorita to see the collection, whereas
his father rarely let anyone in to see it.
What about the baron’s five children? Surely they wanted some of the art
for themselves.
Heini gave some pictures to them, but as the collection
belongs to a foundation, he could not just give them away at will. We had a very
complicated lawsuit before he died. The foundation was based in Bermuda, and
everyone wanted something. But that is over and we are all on friendly
terms.
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