Catalonia's Generalitat acquired 636 new works for its National Art Collection in 2025, including a rare 1848 daguerreotype of Barcelona and the significant Forvm photography collection. Culture Minister Sònia Hernández presented the acquisitions on Monday, 20 April 2026, from the Centre for the Recovery of Movable Assets of Catalonia in Valldoreix.
The 2025 budget for art acquisitions recovered to €4,891,774, nearly €5 million, allowing for the addition of 344,881 individual items to the public heritage. This marks a substantial increase of €1.3 million compared to the 2024 budget of €3.5 million, though still slightly below the record €5.1 million spent in 2023. In addition to purchases, 232 works were received through donations and 58 through dations last year.
Among the most notable acquisitions is the Forvm Collection, a prestigious compilation of 1,700 photographs by national and international artists, acquired for €902,680. Originating from the Forvm Gallery in Tarragona, established in 1981 by Chantal Grande and David Balsells, it is one of Catalonia's most important photographic compilations, featuring works by 365 authors from the second half of the 20th century.
Perhaps the most exceptional piece is the 1848 daguerreotype, purchased for €100,000, which offers an unprecedented view of the former Vidal Quadras House and the Sea Wall in Barcelona. Roser Cambray, the representative for photography acquisitions, described it as a 'scenographic daguerreotype of exceptional documentary and historical value'. This image is particularly rare, as only about thirty such daguerreotypes are preserved across Spain, and it is the only large-format urban image made using the daguerreian technique from the early days of photography to be preserved in Catalonia.
Expanding Catalonia's Cultural Heritage
Minister Hernández highlighted that the acquisition budget has increasingly focused on contemporary art, comic art, photography, and post-war art, particularly to expand the collection at the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC). The Forvm Collection includes renowned photographers such as Agustí Centelles, América Sánchez, Bernard Plossu, Colita, Eiko Hosoe, Gabriel Cualladó, Hannah Collins, Humberto Rivas, Joan Colom, Manolo Laguillo, Marta Povo, and Ralph Gibson. The minister noted that while the acquisition cost was nearly €1 million, its market value was estimated at €2 million, with a portion received through donation.
Acquisitions are carried out through direct purchases, auctions, pre-emptive rights, or public calls. Donations and dations, which have increased, also significantly contribute to the public heritage, with Minister Hernández expressing gratitude for the public's generosity. All these works become part of the National Collection and are made available to citizens through archives, libraries, and museums.
Diverse Additions to the National Collection
Other significant additions include the Pau Casals Fund, deposited at the National Archive of Catalonia, comprising 182 textual documents and 20 images related to the composer's family correspondence. The Altarpiece of the Annunciation of the Virgin, a 16th-century sculptural and pictorial composition by Joan Pau Guardiola resting on a 19th-century altar, has been deposited at the Diocesan and Comarcal Museum of Solsona.
The collection also welcomed works such as Agustí Bellester's Red Triptych (€3,000), Antoni Clavé's Woman in an Interior (€25,000), Dorothée Selz's Relative Mimicry (1975), Maria Sanmartí's Seated Reading Woman (€4,000), twenty photographs by Maria Espeus (€16,500), a preparatory drawing for Joaquim Torres-Garcia's Classical Figure (€7,000), and Rafael Martínez Padilla's painting Saint Peter of Rodes (€1,000). Works by Antoni Tàpies, Eduard Arranz, Frederic Amat, Jaume Plensa, Perejaume, and Sergi Aguilar were incorporated through dation.
Strengthening Bibliographic and Contemporary Art Holdings
The Library of Catalonia enhanced its bibliographic heritage with notable acquisitions, including Ramon Llull's Liber proverbiorum (Book of Proverbs), a 15th-century Latin manuscript on paper with a contemporary binding by Christina Eriber. Also acquired was the Book of Hours of the Gralla Family, an illuminated manuscript on fine parchment created for the Barcelona-based Gralla family in the early 16th century.
These acquisitions, distributed across 12 museums, have allowed for the purchase of works by mid-career artists, helping to build a more comprehensive and rigorous narrative of contemporary art with names like Pep Agut, Tom Carr, Pep Duran, Begoña Montalbán, and Oriol Vilapuig. Pieces by recognised artists such as Antoni Muntadas, Silvia Gubern, Nazario, Dorothée Selz, Marga Ximénez, and Joan Fontcuberta have also been acquired, reinforcing their artistic trajectories. Works by younger artists, including Paula Artés, Eva Fàbregas, and Agnès Essonti, have also been incorporated.
To further complete the National Collection, the post-war and second avant-garde art acquisition line secured works by Albert Ràfols Casamada, Elena Paredes, Antoni Llena, Eugenia Ciuró, Aurora Gassó Grau, Antoni Clavé, and Modest Cuixart.
The Generalitat's sustained investment in cultural heritage, demonstrated by the increased budget and diverse acquisitions in 2025, continues to enrich Catalonia's public collections. These efforts ensure that significant historical artefacts, photographic works, and contemporary art are preserved and made accessible, contributing to a deeper understanding and appreciation of Catalan and international artistic legacies for future generations.
