History

When the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía opened its doors in 1990, it stood as a modern and contemporary Spanish museum on an international scale, and with a history tied to the building of its main site: the former Hospital of Atocha in Madrid. 

Hospital San Carlos was first founded by King Philippe II, who, in the sixteenth century, centralised in this location all of the hospitals scattered throughout the Court. In the eighteenth century, Charles III decided to found another hospital, given that the existing facilities failed to meet the city’s needs. The present building is the work of architects José de Hermosilla and Francisco Sabatini, the latter of which was responsible for a large part of its construction.

In 1788, after the death of Charles III brought the building’s development to a standstill, the building was occupied to fulfil the role of its construction, as a hospital, although only a third of Sabatini’s project had been completed.

From that point on, several modifications and additions were made until the hospital was shut down in 1965, with its operations transferred to Madrid’s Provincial Health Service. Despite the many rumours of demolition, the building’s survival was guaranteed in 1977 when it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument by Royal Decree.

In 1980, restoration work began on the building, under the direction of Antonio Fernández Alba, and in April 1986 the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía opened, using floors 1 and 2 from the old hospital as temporary galleries. Towards the end of 1988, José Luis Iñiguez de Onzoño and Antonio Vázquez de Castro made final modifications, with the three steel-and-glass lift towers, designed in collaboration with British architect Ian Ritchie, meriting special attention. 

The Museo, an Autonomous Organisation under the Spanish Ministry of Culture, was created by Royal Decree 535/88 of 27 May 1988, with its headquarters in the Hospital de San Carlos in Madrid and with art collections that made up the Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo. 

On 10 September 1992, their Majesties King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía inaugurated the Permanent Collection of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, which had previously only held temporary exhibitions. Now a bona fide museum, its mission was to safeguard, expand and exhibit its artistic holdings; promote the general public’s knowledge of and access to contemporary art in its various manifestations; hold exhibitions which are international in scope; and establish training, education and assessment activities related to its content, as reflected in its Statute. 

The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia was founded by minister of Culture Javier Solana under an initiative by his advisor, Carmen Giménez (Casablanca, Morocco, 1943). The institution’s first director, from 1988 to 1990, was Tomás Llorens (Almazora, Castellón, 1936 – Denia, Alicante, 2021), and he was succeeded by: María Corral (Madrid, 1940), from 1990 to 1994; José Guirao (Pulpí, Almería, 1959 – Madrid, 2022), from 1994 to 2001; José Manuel Bonet (Paris, 1953), from 2001 to 2004; Ana Martínez de Aguilar (San Sebastián, 1965), from 2004 to 2007; and from 2008 to 2023 by the first director named by public tender, Manuel Borja-Villel (Burriana, Castellón, 1957). Fifteen years later, on 6 June 2023, a new public tender resulted in the appointment of Manuel Segade (A Coruña, 1977).