Room 1 and 2

Although the Hortensia Herrero collection focuses on twenty-first-century art, it also includes the work of some of the great masters of the twentieth century, such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Roy Lichtenstein and Julio González. All of them had an exceptional capacity for innovation and blazed a trail for many later artists who drew inspiration from their work. This room contains a selection of the most notable twentieth-century works in the Hortensia Herrero collection.

Eduardo Chillida (San Sebastián, 1924–2002) and Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona, 1923–2012) are two of the most outstanding Spanish artists of the second half of the twentieth century. The work of both is characterized by respectful treatment of materials and interests in philosophy and poetry. Their careers contain several parallels: both started university degrees which they abandoned to devote themselves to art; both quickly achieved great international recognition; and both exhibited at the Galerie Maeght in Paris and won major prizes at the Venice Biennale in 1958 (Chillida the International Grand Prize for sculpture and Tàpies the UNESCO Prize and the David Bright Foundation Award). Moreover, they established a long and lasting friendship which endured throughout their lives. Proof of this is a work by Tàpies entitled Empremta de cistella sobre roba (Imprint of a Basket on Cloth) (1980), which belonged to Eduardo Chillida’s private collection and is now part of the Hortensia Herrero collection.