Bergé Collection Donation

This June, at the initiative of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the trustees of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum Foundation approved the proposed donation of the Bergé Collection of international contemporary art, assembled over the last three decades by the firm Bergé y Compañía.

The arrival of this collection increases the presence of European, North American and Latin American art in the museum, providing a counterpoint of remarkable scope and rigour for contextualising the most recent artistic creations.

The Bergé Collection donation consists of ninety-four artworks made between the late 1980s and the early twenty-first century. A significant number of women artists are represented in the group, which also attests to the great diversity of artistic practices during this period: paintings, works on paper, sculptures, photographs, videos and installations.

Since its inception, the Bergé Collection focused on acquiring early pieces by up-and-coming artists. Today it boasts works by Spanish creators whose international careers have taken off in recent years, such as Susana Solano, Pepe Espaliú, Cristina Iglesias, Ibon Aranberri and Dora García, as well as foreign artists like Tim Rollings + KOS, Vik Muniz, Céline van Balen, David Shrigley, Nedko Solakov, Rosario López, João Pénalva and Moris.

The donation of this collection honours Bergé’s founding purpose: to introduce current generations to the complex, stimulating artistic narrative of what is happening in our world and bequeath it to future generations.

At the same time, the gift reinforces Bergé y Compañía’s long-standing connection, forged in the late 1800s, to the city of Bilbao and to Bizkaia and also ties in with the century-old history of the Fine Arts Museum. The timing could not be more perfect, as this year marks the centenary of the creation of Bilbao’s first contemporary art museum, the Museo de Arte Moderno, forerunner of the current Fine Arts Museum.

For more information please visit The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum.