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The Swiss artist Pere Stämpfli and his Catalan wife, Anna Maria, took up residence in Sitges in 1970, adding it to their other two in Paris and Bern. From the very first day, they participated in the town’s local activity and promoted artistic events and cultural festivals. They renovated an old building on the street called Carrer d'en Bosc, which later became a Cultural Area and the headquarters of the Sitgetan Studies Group. In 2004, the Town Council honored Pere Stämpfli, naming him the town’s adopted son.
In the early 21st century, the Stämpflis decided to implement an idea: to offer Sitges a collection of contemporary art open to the public. They put together a collection made entirely with donations from internationally renowned artists, friends and colleagues. The friendship and generosity of many artists of different nationalities facilitated a collection like no other in our country and that constitutes the corpus of the Stämpfli Foundation - Contemporary Art Museum.
The first phase of exhibition areas took place in the old Fish Market building in Town Hall Square, where the Foundation’s main entrance is found. Fully renovated, the building was inaugurated in 2012. It consists of rooms 1, 2 and 3 where a selection of the collection is on display and temporary exhibitions of artists who have works in the Foundation are held. The project was finalized in March 2019 with the refurbishing of the building next door that it was connected to, where three more rooms were added, A, B and C, and where a permanent anthological exhibition by Peter Stämpfli is on display.
THE COLLECTION. ROOMS 1, 2 AND 3
The collection is made up of works of art from the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century. It consists of approximately a hundred pieces and about thirty in trust, by sixty-five artists of twenty different nationalities. The collection grows every year with new donations. A selection from this collection that changes each season is on display in rooms 1, 2 and 3.
The productive core of this collection is formed by artists from the not entirely homogeneous group known as Narrative Figuration. It appeared in 1964, from the exhibition Everyday Mythologies at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. Its members shared the objectives of recovering a new figuration that would leave behind the lyrical and expressionist abstraction of the 50's, at a time when, between the tension of the Cold War and the materialistic optimism of mass consumption, a new popular culture based on new languages prevailed: advertising, photography, comics, graphic design, cinema and television.
From this group, the Stämpfli Foundation presents French artists, such as Henri Cueco, Gérard Fromanger, Jacques Monory or Bernard Rancillac, The Spaniard Eduardo Arroyo, Italians Gianni Bertini and Antonio Recalcati, Icelander Erró, the Germans Peter Klasen and Jan Voss and the Argentine Antonio Seguí, among others.
Another very important nucleus of the collection comes from artists who, in the same decade, opted for a renewal of geometric abstraction and kinetic art or who ventured into minimalism, conceptual art and neo-avant-garde art.
PETER STÄMPFLI
Peter Stämpfli's artistic career is exhibited in Rooms A, B and C. Born in 1937 in Deisswil (Switzerland), he studied painting in Bienne and Bern. In 1958, the exhibition New American Painting in Basel presented, for the first time in Europe, abstract expressionism artists and others from the New York School such as Pollock, Kline or Rothko. The impact of this painting made him decide to move to Paris in 1959, where the art scene was still dominated by abstraction when the languages of pop culture were already defining the climate of daily life in the big western cities. It was the era of the birth of pop-art and new realisms in the contemporary art scenes from the 60's and 70's in the 20th century.
Starting in 1960, Stämpfli began a personal journey based on everyday objects until arriving at the car tire and the geometric pattern of its surface. This evolution led to a personal conception of geometric abstraction.
Stämpfli has a solid reputation confirmed by innumerable exhibitions and by his presence at important museums around the world, European as well as American and Asian. He has been honored with retrospective exhibitions as the Centre Pompidou, the Jeu de Paume and the Grand Palais, and has exhibited frequently at the FIAC. He represented Switzerland at the Biennale of Venice and Sao Paolo. Since 1959 and until now, he has had more than sixty individual exhibitions and has participated in nearly five hundred group exhibitions in every continent.
ROOM A
1963-1970
THE 60’S: POP-ART AND FIGURATION. THE OBJECT AND EVERYDAY GESTURES
During the 1960s, in a society defined by mass consumption, Peter Stämpfli focused on the objects and gestures of everyday life using large formats and the language of advertising.
Images moved radically away from the intimate emotions and the lyricism of the abstraction of the time. The artist's hand, the brushstroke and the texture became imperceptible. The monochrome background, predominantly white, isolated and immobilized the chromatic strength of images inspired by advertising photography.
Stämpfli himself explained the intention: "to produce a dictionary of objects and daily gestures"; To abstract them from the banality of daily life by transferring them to the artist's studio and depicting them using the technique of the great tradition: oil painting.
It was artwork that was indifferent to the debates on modernity in the second half of the 20th century that placed excluding pairings face to face: high culture against popular culture, fine arts confronted by the theme of everyday life and abstraction opposite representation.
Wildcat nº2 (1970) and its precedent, Wildcat nº1 (1967), mark the moment that Stämpfli put an end to his first period.
SALA B
1970-1990
FROM THE WHEEL TO THE TIRE. RELIEF AND TRACKS
His eye, first aimed at the automobile, focused on the wheel and later on the tire and its relief. In the next two decades, Stämpfli’s work is defined by large formats, by the austerity of black and gray and by the monumental character of certain works.
The two large works Polyester Cord (1970) and Cavallino (1972) are examples, mounted on frames with the shape of the image. In the previous room, Rouge Baiser had been a precedent of this assembly technique that, midway between mural painting and easel painting, moves the artworks slightly towards the viewer’s space.
Soon the explicit references to the tire or any hint of figuration disappear. On display in this room are some examples of works where elementary signs, simple, almost unicellular units, are arranged in structures following the rhythm and logic of repetition. They are now abstract images directly related to minimalism and constructivism.
During these years, Stämpfli branched out in several directions: towards sculpture, charcoal and pencil drawings on paper, cinema and monumental reliefs in public spaces. Two small mural models illustrate it: a hundred feet long tire track made in the French department of the Marne Valley and a twenty-six meter high piece commissioned by the Bern Museum of Communications in 1990.
SALA C
FROM 1990 TO TODAY
COLOR AND ABSTRACTION
As of 1990, the theme derived from the tire changes radically. The rigorous geometry of shapes is defined by fields of vibrant color: reds, oranges, yellows, blacks, blues.
Chromatic intensity seems to be the inevitable result of the artist's logical and meditated evolution, using all the techniques at his disposal, from oil and acrylic painting to watercolor and pastel.
The rhythm of lines, shapes and colors make us forget that the internal structure of each work of art is derived from fragments or details of the tire, enlarged and stylized. The reference to the world of representation has been permanently erased.
The exhibited works
Sala 1
Eduardo Arroyo
Saint Bernard Tonnelet
1965
95 x 79 cm / 37,4 x 31,1 in.
Oli sobre tela
Gianni Bertini
Ruines de Thèbes
2004-2005
190 x 120 cm / 74,8 x 47,2 in.
Mec-art
Henri Cueco
Chiens courants
1993
140 x 162 cm / 55,1 x 63,7 in.
Acrílic sobre tela
Erró Gudmundur
Coup de vent
2000
151 x 99 cm / 59,4 x 38,9 in.
Oli sobre tela
Gérard Fromanger
Sens dessus dessous, tête à tête, rouge, jaune, bleu
2008
200 x 150 cm / 78,7 x 59,0 in.
Acrílic sobre tela
Peter Klasen
The Beauty and the Dummy
2008
97 x 146 cm / 38,1 x 57,4 in.
Acrílic sobre tela i neó
Jacques Monory
Ang. N° 5, ref. 991
1997
250 x 390 cm / 98,4 x 153,5 in.
Oli sobre tela i contraxapat
Bernard Rancillac
La Roue de la connaissance
1985
195 x 130 cm / 76,7 x 51,1 in.
Acrílic, contraxapat, roda de bicicleta i objectes
Antonio Recalcati
Figure d'homme
2008
100 x 91 cm / 39,3 x 35,8 in.
Oli sobre tela
Antonio Seguí
Las rubias en el sol
2006
110 x 220 cm / 43,3 x 86,6 in.
Acrílic sobre tela
Peter Stämpfli
Town & Country n° 2
1972
351 x 215 cm / 138,1 x 84,6 in.
Oli sobre tela sobre bastidor tallat
Sala 2
Pierre Buraglio
D'après… Auguste Radier (Le Grand Pin parasol)
2003
184 x 177,5 cm / 72,4 x 69,8 in.
Oli sobre contraxapat
Daniel Dezeuze
Charnières du temps
1997
170 x 102 cm / 66,9 x 40,1 in.
Pintura gliceroftàlica sobre fusta
Peter Knapp
Porte de Sansa
1987
220 x 132 cm / 86,6 x 51,9 in.
Foto cibachrome
Piotr Kowalski
New York
1997
108 x 148 cm / 42,5 x 58,2 in.
Fotografia sobre tela endurida
Jean Le Gac
Fragment 13
1990
116 x 163 cm / 45,6 x 64,1 in.
Tècnica mixta sobre tela, foto i 11 manuscrits
Jean-Luc Parant
Bibliothèques idéales
2008
67 x 125 x 20 cm / 26,3 x 49,2 x 7,8 in.
Cera sobre fusta i paper muntat sobre fusta
Pavlos
Chaussettes
1969
153 x 112 x 5 cm / 60,2 x 44,0 x 1,9 in.
Paper de cartell i plexiglàs
Jean Pierre Raynaud
Sans titre
1966
23 x 65 x 45 cm / 9,0 x 25,5 x 17,7 in.
Muntatge: panolac, fusta, metall, test, ciment, residus, pintura
Jean-Michel Sanejouand
Ensemble
1988
195 x 130 cm / 76,7 x 51,1 in.
Acrílic sobre tela
Michel Tyszblat
Ebrar
1974
89 x 116 cm / 35,0 x 45,6 in.
Poliuretà sobre tela
Claude Viallat
Sans titre n° 301
2007
212 x 65 cm / 83,4 x 25,5 in.
Acrílic sobre cortina
Jan Voss
Verwandlung
2000
162 x 130 cm / 63,7 x 51,1 in.
Oli sobre tela
Joel-Peter Witkin
Visitation, Paris / New Mexico (diptique)
2004
27,1 x 27,5 cm / 10,6 x 10,8 in.
Impressió argèntica
Sala 3
Pol Bury
Volume figé MNC 218
1993
24 x 35 x 35 cm / 9,4 x 13,7 x 13,7 in.
Coure
Carlos Cruz-Diez
Jaune additif Denise "A"
2007
180 x 80 cm / 70,8 x 31,4 in.
Cromografia
Horacio Garcia-Rossi
Couleur lumière n°10
1987
100 x 100 cm / 39,3 x 39,3 in.
Acrílic sobre tela
Bernard Moninot
la, la, la
1994-2005
45 x 134,5 x 9,5 cm / 17,7 x 52,9 x 3,7 in.
Serigrafia sobre vidre i diapasó de cristall
Olivier Mosset
Hot Cake
1988-2007
210 x 200 cm / 82,6 x 78,7 in.
Acrílic sobre tela
Sato Satoru
Construction et conception
1992
200 x 145 cm / 78,7 x 57,0 in.
Acrílic sobre tela i fusta
Vassilakis Takis
Sans titre
2010
88 x 82 x 35 cm / 34,6 x 32,2 x 13,7 in.
Ferro
Luis Tomasello
Atmosphère chromoplastique N° 992
2011
62,5 x 62,5 x 10 cm / 24,6 x 24,6 x 3,9 in.
Acrílic sobre fusta
Niele Toroni
Empreinte de pinceau n° 50 à intervalles de 30 cm
1994
79,8 x 51,7 cm / 31,4 x 20,3 in.
Acrílic sobre foto
Michael Warren
Stele X
1995
193,5 x 31 x 25,5 cm / 76,1 x 12,2 x 10,0 in.
Fusta, ELM
Peter Stämpfli
Sala A
Autoportrait au raglan
1963
160 x 117 cm / 62,9 x 46,0 in.
Oli sobre tela
Pot-au-feu
1963
135 x 155 cm / 53,1 x 61,0 in.
Oli sobre tela
Ma voiture
1963
126 x 170 cm / 49,6 x 66,9 in.
Oli sobre tela
Moka
1964
128 x 187 cm / 50,3 x 73,6 in.
Oli sobre tela
Le Quotidien
1964
120 x 190 cm / 47,2 x 74,8 in.
Oli sobre tela
Tomate
1964
134 x 138 cm / 52,7 x 54,3 in.
Oli sobre tela
Rouge baiser
1966-2002
93 x 242 cm / 36,6 x 95,2 in.
Oli sobre tela sobre panell tallat
Wildcat n° 2
1970
213 x 162 cm / 83,8 x 63,7 in.
Oli sobre tela
Sala B
Polyester Cord
1970
195 x 600 cm / 76,7 x 236,2 in.
Oli sobre tela sobre bastidor tallat
Cavallino
1972
295 x 535 cm / 116,1 x 210,6 in.
Oli sobre tela sobre bastidor tallat
Blizzard
1973
104 x 202 cm / 40,9 x 79,5 in.
Llapis sobre paper
195 VR 14
1975
253 x 280 cm / 99,6 x 110,2 in.
Oli sobre tela
M + S Contact
1977
119 x 96 cm / 46,8 x 37,7 in.
Llapis sobre paper
Empreinte de pneu S 155 (maquette)
1985
39,5 x 83 x 6,5 cm / 15,5 x 32,6 x 2,5 in.
Resina de polièster
Communication, maquette du relief mural pour le Musée des Communications, Berne
1990
40,5 x 32,5 x 8 cm / 15,9 x 12,7 x 3,1 in.
Resina de polièster
Fusain n° 2 Sans titre
1994
75,5 x 105 cm / 29,7 x 41,3 in.
Carbó sobre paper
Fusain n° 4 Sans titre
1994
75 x 105,5 cm / 29,5 x 41,5 in.
Carbó sobre paper
9 HDT 219
1997
83 x 140 x 10 cm / 32,6 x 55,1 x 3,9 in.
Resina de polièster (marró)
9 HDT 219
1997
83 x 140 x 10 cm / 32,6 x 55,1 x 3,9 in.
Resina de polièster (blanc)
Sans titre n° 10
2007
102 x 153,5 cm / 40,1 x 60,4 in.
Carbó sobre paper
Sans titre n° 12
2007
102 x 153,5 cm / 40,1 x 60,4 in.
Carbó sobre paper
Sala C
Sabro n° 2
1989-1991
249 x 456 cm / 98,0 x 179,5 in.
Oli sobre tela
Aquarelle n° 75 Sans titre
1991
102,5 x 153 cm / 40,3 x 60,2 in.
Aquarel·la sobre paper
Zentua
1995
160 x 194 cm / 62,9 x 76,3 in.
Oli sobre tela
Listor
1995
179 x 171 cm / 70,4 x 67,3 in.
Oli sobre tela
Irvan
1995
187 x 283 cm / 73,6 x 111,4 in.
Oli sobre tela
Pastel n° 31 Sans titre
1996
102,5 x 153 cm / 40,3 x 60,2 in.
Pastel sobre paper
Kristal 4
2000
245 x 245 cm / 96,4 x 96,4 in.
Pintura acrílica sobre tela
TS 760
2002
245 x 245 cm / 96,4 x 96,4 in.
Pintura acrílica sobre tela
