The Thyssen-Bornemisza is one of Madrid’s most prominent art galleries, known as one corner of Madrid’s Golden Triangle of Art, along with the Prado and the Reina Sofía, and houses part of the Carmen Thyssen private collection. Another branch of the Museo Carmen Thyssen opened in Málaga in 2011.

Now, a new museum with artwork owned by Baroness Thyssen, Carmen Cervera, is set to open in another of Spain’s most artistic cities – the Catalan capital of Barcelona.

The museum will be made up of pieces from Cervera’s extensive private collection. One of the world’s most important art collectors, the baroness, who was born in Barcelona, told newspaper La Vanguardia that having a museum here would be the best way to pay homage to her home city.

“To be able to host a significant museum in my city of Barcelona, showcasing some of the finest works of Catalan art is the best legacy I can leave to future generations,” she told the newspaper.

Cervera and investment firm Stoneweg made a bid for the city’s iconic Comedia cinema, located on the corner of Passeig de Gracia and and Gran Via, to be turned into the museum.

Sources say that the current agreement has been signed for 25 years, meaning that the rest of the baroness’s private collection, currently rented out to galleries and exhibitions around the world, will now have a home.

Cervera already had plans to move part of her collection to Barcelona in 2012 in the Fira de Barcelona at the foot of Montjuïc, but ultimately the project failed and since then she has been keen to find a new home in the city.

The plan is that the museum will house part of her art collection, as well as various cultural activities.

The Comedia cinema showed its last film in January of this year after screening the latest movies for six decades and has remained empty since then.

The owners received many proposals and ideas for transforming the venue but ultimately decided to go with the new Thyssen art museum.

Currently, the baroness, who has a large collection of Catalan art from the 19th and 20th centuries, has museums in Málaga and Andorra, an exhibition space in Sant Feliu de Guíxols (Costa Brava) and works in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation in Madrid.