New collection

The Museo Reina Sofía’s new collection opens its doors. Throughout its still short history—a little over 30 years—several partial rearrangements have taken place; some were limited to certain rooms while others offered new angles regarding artists or periods. Visitors will now be able to enjoy this new and comprehensive approach, which embraces the entire museum collection, and includes art from the end of the 19th century to the most recent.

The result is the fruit of many years of research and has entailed the work of almost all of the Museum’s departments. The new collection, consisting of some 2,000 artworks, is grouped in different spaces and spread over more than 12,000 square metres. Around 70 percent of the pieces have never before been displayed in the Museum. Many of them have become part of the collection in the last 8 years as a result of donations, acquisitions and deposits.

Their integration into the collection has made it possible to examine new themes—the current nature of emigration, colonialism, ecology, the 15-M movement and gender identity, among others. The representation of women has been significantly expanded, the role of photography and film has been enhanced via the inclusion of hundreds of videos and photos, and architecture has now a place within the Museum’s discourse. Instead of following a chronological order, artworks are presented and grouped thematically, accompanied by considerable bibliographical and archival documentation.

Located on Sabatini building’s second floor, a first section delves into the historical moments—between the end of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century—from which artistic avant-garde movements emerged. The fourth floor offers a glimpse into the complex context in which both the creators who remained in Spain and those who went into exile as a result of the Spanish Civil War lived, as well as the contributions made on the cultural and artistic landscape between 1939 and the 1950s, within Spain and abroad. This floor also presents a novel interpretation of the context of art and culture at a time when—after World War II—the United States consolidated its position as the world’s leading power and tried to spread, with varying results, its cultural dominance beyond its borders. Another section, located in Nouvel’s building first floor, brings together art produced in Latin America between 1964 and 1987 and its relationship with Spain, giving an account of the new and influential artistic practices that developed at that time.

Nouvel’s building ground floor explores a pivotal moment in the 1980s, marked by the exhibition documenta held in Kassel in 1982, when many key figures for understanding contemporary art emerged. Sabatini’s building ground and first floors delve into the art from the 1990s to today, with a focus on collaborative practices and the reclaimed public spaces and monuments beyond their condition of being merely vestiges of the past. Ecology is another of the themes presented here, along with elements linked to the social struggles that took place to defend public services, the right to housing and opposition to austerity measures.

The new collection includes artworks made by artists such as Francis Bacon, Rosa Barba, Louise Bourgeois, Georges Braque, Marcel Broodthaers, Miriam Cahn, Alexander Calder, Lygia Clark, Salvador Dalí, Sonia Delaunay, Dora García, Leon Golub, Luis Gordillo, Maruja Mallo, Marta Minujín, Joan Miró, Antoni Muntadas, Juan Muñoz, Helio Oiticica, Pablo Picasso, Ángeles Santos, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson, Hito Steyerl, Dorothea Tanning, Antoni Tàpies and Remedios Varo, among many others.