The Gimferrer family donates 131 works from the family's private collection to Banyoles City Council

Banyoles City Council and the Gimferrer family signed the donation agreement today so that the council receives 131 works of art from the family's private collection. It is one of the most important private art collections in the country and the donation includes works by Miró, Tàpies, Picasso and Rembrandt.

They will be exhibited within three years in the Can Tarradas municipal space, which will be conditioned to exhibit them publicly. The Gimferrer collection is considered one of the most important private art collections in the country and its owner's initial intention was to donate it to a prominent national museum institution. After more than two years of negotiations, Jordi Gimferrer and Banyoles City Council have reached an agreement for 131 works to be given to the city of Banyoles to be exhibited permanently and publicly.

At the signing of the agreement, Mayor Miquel Noguer publicly thanked Jordi Gimferrer and his children for donating the collection to the city and emphasized that "the donation will allow Banyoles to have one of the most important art collections in the country and turn the city itself into an art center”.

For his part, Jordi Gimferrer was happy to be able to make the donation to the city and explained that "the collection is a reflection of my life, of what has really cultivated and encouraged me" and he added that "I was able to gather a gathering that is a bit of a summary of the trips I have been able to make around the world and that takes in different cultures and eras with a base of art from the Catalan Countries".

The collection

The 131 works that are the subject of this agreement include works by such prominent authors as Miró, Picasso and Dalí and even prints by Rembrandt and Goya. Però és especialment important pel que fa a pintura catalana i espanyola de finals del segle XIX i del segle XX fins a l'actualitat. Thus, it includes works by romantic authors such as Modest Urgell and Marià Fortuny, modernists such as Ramon Casas, Isidre Nonell, Joaquim Mir, Arístides Maillol or Josep Llimona, and noucentists such as Joaquim Sunyer. The avant-garde group "Dau al set" is exceptionally represented with pieces by Antoni Tàpies, Modest Cuixart, Joan Ponç or Joan Josep Tharrats. Also the group "El paso", with authors such as Antonio Saura, Manuel Millares or Juana Francés. Other outstanding names in the art of the last decades are Joan Genovès, Eduardo Chillida, the Crónica Group, Joan Brossa, Albert Ràfols-Casamada, Miquel Barceló, "Zush", Perejaume or Jaume Plensa. The collection also includes a select representation of African and Oriental art, among others.

With many of these contemporary creators, Jordi Gimferrer developed a personal friendship. Member of a family of key industrialists in the history of Banyoles, Gimferrer developed his taste for art at a very young age, being recognized as a prestigious art critic. Over the years, he has built up a first-class art collection, many of which are regularly loaned for temporary exhibitions in national and international museum centres.

The agreement reached by both parties has the legal form of a "promissory note with irrevocable promise of legacy". That is to say, the works will become the effective property of the City Council once the exhibition space where they will be publicly displayed is ready or upon the death of its current owner. The City Council undertakes to have this space active within a period not exceeding three years.

Can Tarradas

The building where this collection will be exhibited will be that of Mobles Tarradas, designed in 1975 by the architect Jeroni Moner and recently acquired by the City Council. The Gimferrer collection will be the core of the permanent exhibition of the Art Center that the City Council plans to locate in Mobles Tarradas.