The New York Hispanic Society announced Thursday that it has acquired ten new works, including a retrospective portrait of painter Francisco Goya by Eugenio Lucas Velazquez.
These new works join the New York Hispanic Society’s already impressive collection of 750,000 artworks, rare books, and decorative arts from Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Founded in 1904 by Archer M.Huntington, NYHS has a particularly impressive collection of Spanish Old Masters, including works by El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, Campeche, and others. The collection includes a rare specimen of polychrome figurines of Pedro de Mina, his daughters, and indigenous artists.
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These new acquisitions will help achieve some of the organization’s specific goals, said NYHS Director Guillaume Kientz ARTnews.
“For example, we have a core collection of Portuguese material, which is certainly the most important collection of its kind in this country, but we can do a better job,” said Kentz. donate Annunciation (circa 1570-1590) by the Portuguese artist Ferna Gomes is the first step in expanding this collection.
The community’s definition of “Spanish” differs from the official definition one might find in a census, according to Kentz.
“The meaning of the word has changed over time, the current definition is not the one our founder had in mind,” said Kentz. “Our scope is to speak Spanish, Portuguese, cultures, countries and societies.”
An allegorical portrait of Francisco Goya by Eugenio Lucas Velazquez will help assemble Goya’s body of work and related materials, which will be used to launch the Goya Center for Research and Related Fellowships.
“Every acquisition we make, whether through donations or purchases, ticks one or several boxes that are necessary to meet our priorities at the moment,” Keintz said.
The Goya Research Center is expected to open in the fall of 2022.
Another important donation came from Michael, Salma and Renick, who gave the association twenty drawings by Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco. “We were in competition with other institutions, but we had many conversations and I was able to convince them that these works would play an important role in the renovation of the museum, which is currently being renovated to include more galleries,” said Kentz.
The graphics will be the subject of an exhibition on Orozco in 2023.
“People are incredibly generous to us,” said Kentz. “These businesses often come from families, so we consider ourselves not only stewards of the business but ourselves as receptacles of memories, which we are proud to be.”
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