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There is a before and after in the pictorial work of Gauguin (1848-1903) marked by his stay in the Caribbean, seduced by the light and colours he found. All in all, he produced only seven or eight paintings there, including ‘Allées et venues’—completed in 1887 in Martinique—which hung for many years in the home of the Thyssens. The work, belonging to the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, is the centrepiece of the Carmen Thyssen Museum's second exhibition— whose sole sponsor is Andorra Telecom—which opens its doors to the public this Friday and runs until 10 September. The Baroness Carmen Thyssen attended Thursday evening's presentation to the media and subsequent reception with authorities and the trustees of the Museand Foundation.

Faithful to its mission of being a small yet pre-eminent museum, allowing visitors to carefully contemplate each work, the exhibition contains 22 paintings ranging from the 17th through the 20th centuries, from 'Mountainous landscape with Venus and Adonis' by Tobias Verhaecht (c.1600) to 'End of the Workday' by Ramon Sanvinsens (1984). The show traces four centuries of art (the official title is 'Allées et venues. Gauguin and four centuries of roads and paths in art') and features artists from a variety of schools—Dutch, Italian, French, German, American and Catalan schools, among others. There are the Impressionists, such as Pissarro, Expressionists such as Nolde and Münter—the only woman in the exhibition—and the Catalan artists Mir, Rusiñol and Urgell, plus grand masters of the likes of Canaletto.

Curator and director Guillermo Cervera explained that the path is the exhibition's common theme: all the paintings selected depict a path. The theme was chosen for three reasons: historically, the path is a place travelled by thousands upon thousands over the centuries. It also lends a sense of depth to the paintings. Finally, it symbolises the journey taken by the artist: his comings and goings, his ‘Allées et venues’.

The Baroness Thyssen was very pleased with the museum's second exhibition, and noted that the museum had been chosen by the Lonely Planet travel guides as one the top ten to visit in 2018.

The visit was also attended by the Minister of Culture, Olga Gelabert, who was very enthusiastic about the show, and the Mayor of Escaldes-Engordany, Trini Marín, who felt privileged for the parish to be home to the museum. Ms.Marín has also joined the Trustees of the Museuand Foundation, the entity commissioned with running the Carmen Thyssen Andorra Museum. The CEO of Andorra Telecom, Jordi Nadal was also in attendance.