A tour of 20th-century Catalan art in Girona, guided by the Bassat collection.

It all began, almost by chance, in 1968, when architect Pep Bonet, who had built an apartment for Lluís Bassat and his wife Carmen Orellana, suggested that perhaps a painting was missing from those white walls. In fact, more than one, they both thought.

The architect proposed an abstract work by a professional colleague who was moving toward painting, a certain Ángel Jové. The piece, art experts explain, was quite daring and difficult for the time, in fuchsia, pink, and greenish tones. Bassat, who had not yet established his prestigious advertising agency, explains that the work cost them 6,000 pesetas, an amount they paid in installments. 1,000 pesetas religiously each month.

Among the works on display are a drawing and a sculpture by Joan Miró and a Tàpies

That painting remained alone in the couple's home for five years, until in 1973 they acquired a painting by the artist Serra de Rivera from the Adrià gallery in Barcelona, ​​of which the owner wanted to sell 70%. Bassat eventually acquired 35% and promised to find friends who would contribute the remaining 35%. The gallery operated until it was forced to close in 1980.

During the seven years it was open, the Bassats bought three paintings for each exhibition. When the gallery closed, neither partner wanted to recoup their investment with paintings. They preferred money, and that's how the couple found themselves with more than 500 works to their credit.

Today, its collection constitutes one of the most representative holdings of 20th-century Catalan art, especially that of the so-called second Catalan avant-garde movements. It houses nearly 4,000 works, of which 3,000 are paintings and the rest are sculptures. All of them were purchased under the premise: "We only acquire works that moved our hearts."

A glimpse of this vast collection is on display at the Girona Art Museum, a facility that dedicates the first major exhibition of his work to the collector and publicist in the province. There are 67 pieces, including paintings and sculptures, by 63 artists, some of the great masters of Catalan art of the last century. A journey through 20th-century art, from the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, through the second avant-garde movements, to the new figuration and the most recent creations.

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A chronological journey that allows visitors to enjoy not only great names such as Joan Miró, Antoni Clavé, Antoni Tàpies, Pablo Gargallo, Albert Ràfols-Casamada, Josep Guinovart, Joan Ponç or Modest Cuixart, but also many other artists “who remained in the background and who were also groundbreaking”, explains Conxita Oliver, curator along with Joan Gil Gregorio, to whom the Museu d'Art has entrusted the enormous task of immersing itself in the extensive Bassat collection and choosing the works that make up the exhibition Mestres de l'art català del segle 20. Col•lecció Bassat , which can be visited until September 14.

Among the works on display are that first painting by Àngel Jové with which the Bassat-Orellana couple began their collection, but also one of the most iconic pieces from Josep Guinovart's early period, Brotxa bander a (1970), in demand at countless exhibitions and a tribute to the house painter, or Constallation silencieuse (1970), a bronze sculpture by Miró of which Bassat is particularly proud and which he acquired at auction in London. A piece that engages in dialogue with another Miró, a drawing in which the artist's iconography appears. A work on cardboard from 1967 by Tàpies is on display, while a disfigured face by Miquel Barceló is also on display.

Among those who didn't receive the recognition they deserved, some notables include Josep Subirà, whose decomposed wooden head is on display; the abstract artist Francisco Farreras, present with a large sculptural relief; and the painter Josep Maria de Sucre, whose portraits are characterized by the anguished faces of his subjects. Other names perhaps unknown to the general public, such as Eduard Arranz Bravo and Rafael Bartolozzi, creators of the colorful murals at the Tipel factory in Parets del Vallès, visible from the AP-7, are also present in this exhibition.

The director of the Girona Art Museum, Carme Clusellas, highlights the importance of this private collection of 20th-century Catalan works "at a time when public institutions did not pay much attention to this type of work" and acknowledges that the exhibition on the walls of the museum - the former episcopal palace - is one of many that could have been made with the vast collection of the Barcelona publicist, part of whose collection rests in the Nau Gaudí in Mataró.