A new museum with paintings by Miró, Tàpies and Picasso a stone's throw from the Banyoles lake

BanyolesFor a few weeks now, Banyoles has had one of the most relevant artistic facilities in the Girona region. It is the new Art Center, located in Plaça Major, which has opened its doors with a selection of 76 works by some of the great names in art history, especially Catalan and Spanish, such as Antoni Tàpies, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Eduardo Chillida, Antonio Saura, Marià Fortuny, Josep Llimona and Miquel Barceló. The project has been possible thanks to the generosity of the 93-year-old Banyoles collector Jordi Gimferrer, who in 2023 he formalized the donation of his private collection, among the most valuable and interesting in all of Catalonia, to the Banyoles Town Hall so that it could be exhibited publicly and permanently.

The new art museum is located in the heart of the municipality, in the main square, between Cal Moliner and Can Tomàs Teixidor, in a medieval building with a thousand years of history, perfectly restored and conditioned by the architect Marc Riera. Among vaults, capitals, and stone walls, the white and diaphanous rooms allow for optimal viewing of a wide representation of 19th and 20th-century art, from Romanticism to the avant-garde. The Gimferrer collection, built over more than six decades, stands out particularly for the exceptional presence of artists linked to the Dau al Set group, with works by Tàpies, Cuixart, Joan Ponç, and Joan-Josep Tharrats, some of whom the collector even knew personally. Also from the Valencian artists of Equip Crònica, with pieces of figurative pop-up that attract public attention. The exhibition is completed by members of the El Paso group, with names like Saura, Manuel Millares, and Juana Francés, as well as little-known pieces signed by universal artists such as Rembrandt and Goya. Finally, the ground floor of the museum offers pieces of African and Oriental art, in addition to Egyptian, Greek, and Roman relics, as Gimferrer was also a great lover of ancient art.

For the collector, a chemist by profession and a great art enthusiast, the crown jewel of the entire catalog is a material painting by Antoni Tàpies: "It is a work that invites reflection and that, over the years, I believe will acquire great importance and have a run in other museums". And, about the new building, located on foundations with a lot of history, he comments: "It gives the museum a category difficult to find elsewhere, because it is not usual to turn a building over a thousand years old into an art museum".

A fortune and a learning for new generations

The public welcome has exceeded all expectations. During the first weekend of opening, for Easter week, the center received nearly 4,000 visitors, most of them from Banyoles but also from afar. "I am very happy. The popular reaction has been very cordial, very heartfelt, and very kind from the citizens. I feel fulfilled," states Gimferrer.

The new Art Center settles a historic debt of the city with the plastic arts and projects Banyoles, which is already known everywhere for the value of the archaeological site of La Draga, to the forefront of the artistic scene. "The city had an outstanding issue in the field of plastic arts since the closure of the El Tint gallery, and we understood that the transfer of Gimferrer's collection was a unique opportunity to create a permanent art center," argues Miquel Cuenca, councilor for culture. And he concludes: "From now on, the children of Banyoles will be able to walk from their homes to see a Tàpies, a Miró, a Rembrandt, or a Goya. It is a privileged way to educate the artistic sensitivity of future generations."

The inauguration of the Art Center is only the first phase of a long-term project. An expansion is already planned that will include an adjoining room for temporary exhibitions, especially open to contemporary creation and local painters, as well as its own educational space that will complement the pedagogical offer. In addition, the center will maintain a close relationship with the monastery of Sant Esteve.