News
Julio Sorigué dies at the age of 92
The Catalan business world has lost one of its longest-serving and most recognized figures. Julio Sorigué, a construction icon and promoter of projects that have marked the country's urban and social landscape, died this Tuesday at the age of 92, the company confirmed in a statement.
In 1954 he started in the construction sector as an individual entrepreneur in Binèfar, where he worked in aggregate production and asphalt treatment. In 1968 he founded the company that bore his name in Lleida, initially as Julio Sorigué SAU, which later became Sorigué SA around the 1980s.
Beyond his prominent role in the world of construction, Julio Sorigué left a profound mark as a patron and promoter of cultural and social projects. In 1985, together with his wife, Josefina Blasco, he founded the Sorigué Foundation, an institution based in Lleida that, since then, has carried out intense activity in the cultural, educational and social fields. Among its initiatives, the management of an occupational center dedicated to improving the quality of life and promoting the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities stands out. At the same time, the Foundation has been shaping, over decades, a collection of contemporary art that is today considered one of the most relevant and unique in Spain, both for the quality of the works and for its vocation for dialogue with the territory and the public.
A collection with works by artists of enormous prestige such as Anish Kapoor, Antonio López, William Kentridge and Anselm Kiefer. Its collection, begun around 2000 with initial donations of Noucentista paintings, has grown significantly to include more than 450 contemporary works that focus on the human condition.
The Foundation maintains an intense activity of lending works and collaborating with top museums and art centers, both in Spain and abroad. Among its regular partners are such renowned institutions as the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, the MoMA in New York, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, the Albertina in Vienna, the Tate in Liverpool, the CAAC in Seville, Arts Santa Mònica in Barcelona, the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This vocation for dialogue and cultural exchange has been distinguished with several recognitions, among which the “A” Award for the Corporate Collection of the ARCO Foundation (2025), the Art and Patronage Award of the “la Caixa” Foundation (2015) and the GAC Award for Collecting (2017) stand out.
