The Bertran Collection. Bertrán Collection. The memory of a family legacy

El Greco, Goya, Zurbarán, Alejo Fernández or ceramic pieces, all works from the 16th to the 19th century make up the selection of the Bertrán Collection, one of the private collections of Hispanic and Baroque art most relevant of European art in Catalonia, which is on display from today until October 8 at the Maricel Museum.The Bertrán Collection. The memory of a family legacy is the first of a series of exhibitions on Catalan collections, which Museus de Sitges will dedicate to Catalan private collections and which, through the generous collaboration of their owners, will allow the public to learn about a fundamental part of the heritage.

22 works between the 16th and 19th. The rooms of the Maricel Museum are the stage where paintings by universal artists and projection in the history of Hispanic art are displayed. 22 works between the 16th and 20th centuries make up the selection included in The Bertrán Collection. The memory of a family legacy, arranged by Ignasi Domènech and Nadia Hernández.

Among the exhibited works stand out Saint John the Baptist, Christ with the Cross (c. 1585), by El Greco; a still life (c. 1640), by Juan de Zurbarán; a rare work signed by Alejo Fernández; a self-portrait (c. 1775) by Anton Raphael Mengs; the Portrait of Rita Molinos (c. 1815), by Francisco de Goya, and several portraits by the Court painter Vicente López. The exhibition also presents a set of outstanding Talavera ceramic works, as well as a cut and engraved rock crystal object, made in Milan in the mid-16th century and mounted with silver and enamels in Vienna in the late 19th century.

Three generations of the same family. The Bertrán Collection is the result of the interest in art of three generations of the same family. This is an original collection in the Catalan scene and with its own identity, since it does not fit into the common criteria of collecting in the country at the beginning of the last century, based on the interest in medieval art or the painting between the centuries.

The Bertráns chose to surround themselves with works by Hispanic artists with international recognition or by European Baroque painters, little or not at all represented in the country's public and private collections. Although his predecessor, Felip Bertrán, acquired some works, it was José Bertrán i Musitu (1875-1957) who expanded it significantly and also created an interesting set of ceramics from Talavera, a manufacture rarely present in the Catalan collections of the period. Several subsequent acquisitions by his successors have given shape to this original art collection.

The collection was gradually built up to be exhibited in the neoclassical palace that the architect Francesc Rogent built for the family in the 1870s in the Putxet neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​then a place far from the city where some well-to-do residents of Barcelona built their retirement homes. The Bertran mansion still shines in its splendor next to its 2-hectare gardens.

The first of a series.The Bertrán Collection. The memory of a family legacy is the first of a series of exhibitions dedicated to Catalan private collections organized by Sitges Museums. This program aims to contribute to the projection of significant collections in the Catalan art universe and, at the same time, to bring their works closer to the public as a whole. The initiative connects with the own identity of the Maricel and Cau Ferrat museums, born, precisely, from the hobby of art collecting. Catalonia has a long tradition in this area, which Museus de Sitges wants to make accessible to the public as a whole in upcoming exhibitions, thanks to the collaboration of several collectors.