The ‘ministry’ of Culture allocated a total of 1.9 million euros in 2021 to the purchase of pieces by 99 creators, 600,000 euros more than in 2020
Priority has been given to giving visibility to minority authors and groups and from periods with little representation such as the Renaissance and the ‘underground’
The cartoonist Miquel Fuster spent 15 years on the street until the Fundació Arrels helped him rebuild his life. Many times he slept in some gardens near the MNACwhere he never imagined then that 10 of the originals of the harsh autobiographical comics in which he reflected what he suffered as a homeless person and which, acquired for 15,400 euros, are part of the 1,023 pieces and collections by 99 authors who have arrived in 2021 to enrich the National Collection of Art of Catalonia. Prioritizing purchases of work from minority groups and produced by women -with names like cartoonists Núria Pompeia or Marika Vilaphotographers like Mey Rahola or artists like Isabel Banal– and by creators already consolidated and still active, the Department of Culture of the Generalitat announced this Thursday, from the MNAC, the detail of all acquisitions made.
The collection also adds receiving 76 donationsamong them, the personal funds of the activist and economist Arcady Oliveres, of the architect Oriol Bohigasof the journalist Joseph Maria Carandell, of the actress Montserrat Carulla and the PSUC militant and fighter against Francoism Miguel Nunez, in addition to graphic backgrounds of the cartoonists Tom Roca or Trini Tinturé.
To these art purchases, the ‘conselleria’ directed by Natàlia Garriga spent last year €1.9 million; the initial budget was 1.05, but it was increased as a result of the pandemic with extraordinary contributions. The budget for this 2022 is 2.2 millionfar exceeding that of previous years (1.3 million in 2020; some 650,000 euros in 2018 and 2019; and only 269,000 in 2017).
The most expensive purchase was a marble relief with a portrait of Alfonso IV the Magnanimous from the 15th century, by Isaia Ganti (150,000 euros), valuable for belonging to a period less represented in the collections, such as the Renaissance. Enter the Heritage section, in which 178 objects, lots and funds have been purchased for 958,185 euros. Among them, a lot of Lluís Masriera jewelry (1903-1915), 33 photographs of the Civil War by Antoni Campañà204 glass negatives from Auguste Chavin Republican exile in France (1939-1940)worth 60,000 euros, republican propaganda posters, various daguerreotypes anonymous portraits of women and children or the personal collection of the writer Francis Candle (131,250 euros).
The comic Acquisitions, advised by the commission created in 2019, there were 131 originals by nine authors for an amount of 122,245 euros. It is the smallest item, but it has been growing for two years. In 2017 and 2018, purchases were zero. Criteria have been followed, according to the commission’s spokesman, the journalist Jaume Vidal, of gender and identity perspective, making visible the work of comic book authors, “even less taken into account than the authors”. This is how works of Nuria Pompeia (72 original drawings of her work on motherhood already in the 70s, a topic that many new authors are dealing with today), Anna Maria Smith and Marika Vila. And, in addition to the aforementioned Miquel Fuster, originals from representatives of the ‘underground’: Miguel Gallardo (from pages of ‘El Víbora’ or Makoki), from the unclassifiable Micharmutfrom the surreal and oneiric Peter Joan and of Josep Maria Bea. Also referents of the post-war comic: pages of the characters of Carpanta and Petra, from escobar, one of Bruguera’s teachers, graphic humorist before the Civil War and promoter of the animated film ‘Once upon a time…’, which could not compete with the 1950 Disney.
340,000 euros are those that were destined to acquire almost 600 photographs of 47 authors, among them, Mey Rahola (to which the MNAC will dedicate an exhibition this year), Palmira Puig or the young Paula Artéswho in his projects investigates the control of power, as in the acquired ‘Forces and bodies’ (2016), on the Civil Guard.
Within the framework of visual arts there were 44 acquisitions of 43 artists, for an amount of 509,000 euros, prioritizing favoring as many creators as possible and especially living, active and women artists. Of these, the video ‘Selfportrait, New York’ (1980-2018) stands out, by Eugenia Balcellsthe video installation of Nora Ancarola ‘Les maletes kafkianes’ (2018), the piece ‘Traginadores’ (2016) -five light boxes where Isabel Banal goes back to its roots and vindicates the role of peasant women-, the installation of Fine Miralles ‘L’Altar or Fasses de la lluna’ (2016), that of Teresa Estape ‘Valor refuge II’ (2019), the video of Mabel Palacin ‘Lladres’ (2020) or the film screening of the Cambó legacy (2015) by perejaume.
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The acquired works will be distributed in different centers such as the MNAC, the Arxiu Nacional, the Macba, the Biblioteca de Catalunya, the Arxiu Nacional… but also by museums throughout Catalonia.
The ‘consellera’ Garriga has confirmed to questions from the press that the Generalitat will be able to pronounce shortly on the expected expansion of the MNAC, as the museum’s director, Pepe Serra, already advanced a week ago.