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The Prado welcomes María Blanchard and closes the door to further controversies with the Reina Sofía
The Prado Museum has added a new work by María Blanchard to its collection thanks to the donation of *The Portrait of Regina* , made by the descendants of the family that owned the painting. The transaction, already approved by the Royal Board of Trustees after completing all the necessary administrative procedures, will add a significant piece by the Cantabrian artist, although the painting has not yet physically arrived at the museum.
The Prado Museum has expressed its gratitude to the donating family and has ruled out the possibility that this acquisition could reopen the debate on the distribution of funds with the Reina Sofía Museum. The institution believes that the old chronological division that for years defined the boundaries between the two collections is no longer a determining factor.
"The time limit for collections no longer applies," museum sources have stated, noting that the gallery already owns another work by Blanchard. They explain that the decision rests with the owner of the piece, and in this case, "the family has donated the painting to whomever they deemed appropriate," without any legal restriction preventing this choice.
The arrival of The Portrait of Regina inevitably brings back memories of the controversy that arose in 2021 with the Prado's acquisition of The Bolognese Woman , also by María Blanchard. That acquisition sparked a debate about the artist's role within Spanish public collections, since the Reina Sofía Museum considered Blanchard a central figure in the narrative of modern art developed by the institution.
At the time, the Reina Sofía expressed surprise at the Prado's purchase and defended the painter's importance within its own museum narrative. However, four years later, both institutions downplay any potential conflict and emphasize the good relationship between them.
Sources at the Reina Sofía Museum have confirmed that they received no offer to donate the artwork and have downplayed the possibility of it becoming part of the Prado Museum's collection. They also indicated that, should the museum ever need the piece for an exhibition or project, they are confident it could request a loan from the Reina Sofía.
The underlying issue relates to the Royal Decree approved in 1995, which established Pablo Picasso's birth in 1881 as the chronological reference point for organizing the distribution of the collections. According to that criterion, works by artists born before that date belonged primarily to the Prado, while those of later artists were linked to the Reina Sofía.
Over time, this framework has ceased to be a rigid boundary, and the incorporation of new works increasingly responds to artistic and historical criteria, as well as the wishes of donors. The case of 'The Portrait of Regina' reflects this new stage of collaboration among major Spanish museum institutions, in which the same artist can be part of different narratives without this implying a territorial dispute.
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