News
The Generalitat acquires the Forvm Photography Collection
It is one of the best collections of national and international photography and consists of 1,700 photographs.
The Department of Culture of the Generalitat acquires the Forvm photography collection for the National Collection with deposit at the Museum of Modern Art of the Provincial Council of Tarragona (MAMT). This is an important collection, considered one of the best privately owned in the country and internationally.
This new collection of the Department of Culture consists of a total of 1,693 photographs by 356 authors, and many of these photographs are vintage copies with silver gelatin on baryta paper in a remarkable, even excellent state of conservation.
The acquisition embraces, in its essence, the pulse of Catalan photography since the 1950s, a thread of light that runs through the works of the most relevant masters in the country and the world, from the seventies and eighties to the present day. This collection becomes a living memory, a sensitive mirror of the photographic creation that has marked the last decades of the 20th century in Tarragona and Catalonia. It is a treasure that speaks in images, a cultural beacon that enriches and exalts the country's photographic heritage. Chantal Grande and David Balcells defended and endorsed for 27 years, from the Galeria Forvm, the works of the best Catalan, national and international photographers.
The Forvm collection has a total value of €1,717,330. According to the agreement between the Generalitat and the owners, a portion will be acquired for an amount of €903,680.00, while the rest, valued at €813,650.00, will be transferred in the form of a donation.
The collection includes the work of prominent and established artists such as Gabriel Cualladó, Colita, América Sánchez, Joan Fontcuberta, Jorge Ribalta, Eulàlia Valldosera, Joaquim Gomis, Agustí Centelles, Joan Colom, Marta Povo, Humberto Rivas, Manolo Laguillo, Hannah Collins, Eiko Hosoe, Bernard Plossu or Ralph Gibson. Some names are from the Tarragona region, such as Francesc Català-Roca, Pep Escoda, Marcel Pey or Lluc Queralt, among others.
The Minister of Culture, Sònia Hernández, states that “with this acquisition we reaffirm the Government's commitment to photography: a discipline that has had a history of excellence in our country”. The Minister adds that “it is obvious that this collection had to remain in Tarragona, which is the place where it took shape, where it was born and grew with coherence and vision. Furthermore, the Government is clear that the National Collection must be decentralized, shared and present throughout the country”.
