Entertainment · Books & Arts · 5 hrs ago
Sorolla Museum reopens new extension in Madrid as historic home stays closed
Madrid’s Sorolla Museum has reopened after closing in October 2024 for expansion and restoration work.
The museum is built around the former home and studio of Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla, known for scenes of sunlit Mediterranean beaches.
Its new extension adds exhibition rooms and an auditorium, while the project also provides step-free access and improved storage for the collection.
The historic home remains closed for restoration, and the museum’s director says it will be years before it can reopen, without giving a date.
A new exhibition explores how the building changed from Sorolla’s home into a museum.
The museum holds the world’s largest collection of Sorolla’s work, including 1,394 paintings and around 5,000 drawings.
The expansion gives the museum more room to welcome visitors and care for its collection.
The Sorolla Museum in Madrid is reopening its new extension to the public on 15 October, after closing in October 2024.
The extension adds exhibition spaces and facilities, while restoration of the historic residence is still under way.
The inaugural exhibition explores the history and changing architecture of the museum building.
Sources give different figures for the extension’s area and total project cost.
The project also aims to improve accessibility, collection storage and cultural programming.
- Who
- The Sorolla Museum in Madrid, dedicated to Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida.
- What
- It is reopening its new extension, with an inaugural exhibition about the museum building’s history.
- When
- 15 October 2026. The museum closed in October 2024.
- Where
- Madrid, Spain, at the historic home and atelier of Sorolla.
- Why
- The extension addresses limitations in visitor services, collection management and accessibility, and adds space for exhibitions and cultural programming.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Sorolla oversaw the construction of his home and atelier.
The house opened to the public as a museum.
Spain’s Ministry of Culture acquired two adjacent properties for the museum’s expansion.
Work on the project began.
The museum closed to the public.
The museum is scheduled to reopen its new extension.
- Reopening
- 15 October 2026
- Extension area
- 1,698 sq. m, according to The Art Newspaper; more than 2,000 sq. m, according to El País
- Project cost
- €14 million, according to The Art Newspaper; €13.1 million, according to El País
- New facilities
- Exhibition spaces, an auditorium and storage facilities
- Historic residence
- Restoration is under way; no reopening date is stated
- Inaugural exhibition
- Behind the Artist’s House: The Architecture of the Sorolla Museum, 1905–2026
2 sources
What people are saying
Certain requirements the museum needed to meet in order to operate effectively, both in terms of visitor services and collection management, were being carried out under precarious conditions
You lose the relationship with the visitors, which is something that can really hurt us
that the industrial space they were working on would not lose its relationship with the home
I cannot commit to a date