The radiography of a moment, in the feminine
When the first issue of the newspaper AVUI saw the light on Sant Jordi’s Day in 1976, the newspaper’s art collection already counted a substantial body of artworks, close to 600 pieces, donated by artists as direct support for the project of publishing the first newspaper in Catalan after the Franco dictatorship. The publication of the newspaper had brought together a large part of Catalan society as well as many intellectuals, writers, and artists of the time.
Among the artists, the number of women was also high and significant: almost one hundred names that allow us to gain insight into the moment, as if it were the radiography of an instant. Many women artists donated their works according to their political convictions, but the act of submission also represented an important opportunity for visibility in an artistic context that was still largely unfavorable to women’s participation, and the possibility of becoming part of a collection that was already understood to be highly significant. Thus, the collection includes 106 works signed by women, many of whom are today essential names in Catalan art, while others still remain pending study and recognition.
The exhibition presents a selection of 51 works by the most relevant Catalan women artists of the time and offers a new opportunity to list names and trajectories that are today known to have been poorly represented and insufficiently visible in the museums of Catalonia. The significance of the exhibition also lies in the fact that all works were created and donated at a very specific moment, allowing a first reading of the artistic paradigm in Catalonia produced by women artists: a wide diversity of styles can be seen—from more classical figurative proposals to abstract works and even early conceptual approaches—and especially a wide variety of techniques—painting on canvas, wood, sculpture, illustration, among others—with ceramic production, enamel, and tapestry standing out.
We can see works by:
Roser Agell · Carme Aguadé · Antònia Aguiló · Angelina Alòs · Aurora Altisent · Susina Amat · Rosa Amorós · M. Rosa Andrés · Lola Anglada · M. Dolors Balanyà · Pilarín Bayés · Maria Bofill · Esther Boix · Magda Bolumar · Roser Capdevila · Engracia Casas · Maria Cirici Pellicer · Colita · Claude Collet · Carme Coma · Rosa Farré · Sefa Ferré · Pilar Font · Carme Garcés · Aurora Gassó · Maria Girona · Eulàlia Grau · Chon Hernández Cros · Conxa Ibáñez · Núria Llimona · Carme Llobet · Madola · Montserrat Mainar · Isabel Mas · Fina Miralles · Mercè Morey · Esther Palomer · Pilar Perdices · Maria Assumpció Raventós · Amèlia Riera · Maria Teresa Roca · Elisenda Sala · M. Teresa Sanromà · Isabel Serrahima · Rosa Siré · Conxita Sisquella · Anita Solà d’Imbert · Montserrat Torras Sans · Maria José Vela · Alejandra Vidal · Emília Xargay
Although not all women who donated works and are currently part of the collection are included, those who remained active beyond the 1970s and developed a professional trajectory are represented, and today this trajectory is intended to be valued. The selection is limited to works produced in the 1970s and donated in the first call for support to the newspaper. Later, in the 1990s, a second call was made to expand the Avui art collection, but at that time participation by women artists was lower. These works and artists will be the subject of a second exhibition taking place in 2024 as a continuation of the present one. Both exhibitions will share a single catalogue with texts by Elina Norandi and full cataloguing of all works.
The project of the Museu d’Art de Girona complements and adds to the work promoted by the Network of Art Museums of Catalonia for the recovery of women artists and the compilation of their testimonies, a project also entrusted to Elina Norandi. In this line, the programme of activities developed throughout 2023 around the Girona exhibition will deepen proposals that give voice and presence to many of the authors who are still active today.
The AVUI Art Collection
In 2011, after the bankruptcy of the publishing company Premsa Catalana S.A., publisher of the newspaper, the Government of Catalonia decided to acquire the 604 works that then constituted the newspaper’s art collection. The acquisition prevented the dispersion of a collection of significant historical and artistic value and also a possible export of works outside Catalonia.
The collection was formed from the donation of one artwork by artists as support for the publication of the first Catalan-language newspaper in the 1970s. The newspaper Avui, the first Catalan newspaper after the Franco dictatorship, received support from a large part of Catalan society and also from artists who responded to a prior call from the newspaper itself to donate a work and contribute to consolidating the project. When the first issue of AVUI was published on 23 April 1976, the art collection already included a significant number of works, exhibited in January 1976 at the Fundació Miró in Barcelona under the evocative title “A people makes its own newspaper”.
In the 1990s, the collection was expanded with 69 new donations under the artistic advice of Pilar Parcerisas. These new incorporations were exhibited together with a selection of earlier works in a major exhibition at the CCCB in September 1994. Since 1991, the entire collection had been deposited at the monastery of Vilabertran, where it was shown in rotation until 2004. After the newspaper’s bankruptcy, the works were stored in the monastery’s warehouses and eventually acquired by the Government of Catalonia. After acquisition, the collection was divided into two main groups. The first consisted of 24 original front pages commissioned by the newspaper over twenty years from various Catalan artists. This set was deposited at the Museum of the History of Catalonia, which in 2011 dedicated an exhibition linking the originals with the published newspaper covers and emphasizing the historical dimension of the newspaper. The remaining works, the main body of the collection, were deposited at the Museu d’Art de Girona with the aim of strengthening its contemporary art collection.
