The exhibition presents an exceptional selection of masterpieces from the history of photography from the collection of Sondra Gilman and Celso González-Falla. This collection, based in New York, contains more than 1500 original photographs by some of the best photographers of the 20th and 21st century, such as Robert Adams, Walker Evans, Rineke Dijkstra, Man Ray, Berenice Abbott or Lee Friedlander, among many others.
On the exhibition
Throughout history, photographers have always oscillated between two extremes: the mimetic illusion of reality and the enhancement of the aesthetic qualities of the image. Whether "instantaneous lines" (as Henri Cartier-Bresson puts it), rational lines inspired by the New Topographics current, or the diversity of curved lines of the human body, in photography, the line structures, sometimes reinventing the real, to the point of reaching abstraction.
Across different visual confrontations, this exhibition invites the viewer to experience the power of the photographic line through 120 photographs.
The sample is divided into three sections:
1. Straight Lines groups works by authors that emphasize the lines of force of the image, either rigid or spontaneous. In this section you will find the variegated and colourful facades of Stéphane Couturier, the retro-futuristic landscapes of Hiroshi Sugimoto, the solitary urbanisms of Lewis Balz or the desolate fields of Robert Adams.
2. Curved Lines shows how the curve defines male and female bodies, photographed in their entirety or in detail, through the images of disturbing natures of Edward Weston, the sensuality of Bill Brandt and Robert Mapplethorpe, the street portraits of André Kertész and Léon Levinstein or the modernity of Berenice Abbott, among others.
3. Abstractions includes photographs whose reference to the real world disappears revealing the lines of abstraction of the image, there are the rough surfaces of Aaron Siskind, the abstract landscapes of Minor White, the lights and shadows of Ray K. Metzker or the sinuous forms of Harry Callahan.
2. Curved Lines shows how the curve defines male and female bodies, photographed in their entirety or in detail, through the images of disturbing natures of Edward Weston, the sensuality of Bill Brandt and Robert Mapplethorpe, the street portraits of André Kertész and Léon Levinstein or the modernity of Berenice Abbott, among others.
3. Abstractions includes photographs whose reference to the real world disappears revealing the lines of abstraction of the image, there are the rough surfaces of Aaron Siskind, the abstract landscapes of Minor White, the lights and shadows of Ray K. Metzker or the sinuous forms of Harry Callahan.
The Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Collection
It all began in the 1970s, when Sondra Gilman discovered the work of French photographer Eugène Atget and bought his first three photographs. Since then, the Gilman-González-Falla couple has been acquiring work motivated by one objective: "What we are looking for in an image is simple: it must move us".
In 2014 the couple donated 75 classic images from 20th century American photography to the Whitney Museum in New York. In 2018 their collection travelled to Europe for the first time to the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, and now, also for the first time, to our country.
The collection of Sondra Gilman and Celso González-Falla reveals the pleasure of collectors who acquire their photographs mainly by personal preference, maintaining a daily and private relationship with the images. Beyond this private link, the exhibition invites the visitor to make an aesthetic journey: formal confrontations are freed from their cultural and historical context to allow the viewer to experience their own personal and sensitive relationship with the photographic image.
List of author participants
ABBOTT Berenice (1898-1991), ADAMS Ansel Easton (1902-1984), ADAMS Robert (1937), BADESSI Laurent Elie (1964), BALTZ Lewis (1945-2014), BING Ilse (1899-1998), BLACKMON Julie (1966), BLOSSFELDT Karl (1865-1932), BOURKE-WHITE Margaret (1904-1971), BRANDT Bill (1904-1983), BULLOCK Wynn (1902-1975), BURTYNSKY Ed (1955), CALLAHAN Harry (1912-1999), CANTAMESSA Augusto (1927), CARTIER-BRESSON Henri (1908-2004), CLARK Larry (1943), COLLINS Ken (1948), COUTURIER Stéphane (1957), CUNNINGHAM Imogen (1883-1976), DAVIDSON Bruce (1933), DIJKSTRA Rineke (1959), DOISNEAU Robert (1912-1994), DRTIKOL František (1883-1961), EGGLESTON William (1939), EVANS Walker (1903-1975), FARRI Stanislao (1924), FRANK Robert (1924), FRIEDLANDER Lee (1934), GARNETT William (1916-2006), GIBSON Ralph (1939), GOLDIN Nan (1953), HARVEY Cig (1973), HELG Béatrice (1956), HILLIARD David (1964), HINE Lewis (1874-1940), HÖFER Candida (1944), ISHIMOTO Yasuhiro (1921-2012), ITURBIDE Graciela (1942), KASTEN Barbara (1936), KEETMAN Peter (1916-2005), KENNA Michael (1953), KERTÉSZ André (1894-1985), KLETT Mark (1952), KOUDELKA Josef (1938), LEVINSTEIN Leon (1910-1988), LEVITT Helen (1913-2009), LUX Loretta (1969), MAN RAY (1890-1976), MANN Sally (1951), MAPPLETHORPE Robert (1946-1989), METZKER Ray. K (1931-2014), MODEL Lisette (1901-1983), MORELL Abelardo (1948), MUNIZ Vik (1961), NAGUIT Ramon (atribuido a), OUTERBRIDGE Paul (1896-1958), PÉREZ BRAVO Marta Maria (1959), PLACHY Sylvia (1943), RENGER-PATZSCH Albert (1897-1966), RIBOUD Marc (1923-2016), RODCHENKO Alexander (1891-1956), ROSSITER Alison (1953), SERRANO Andres (1950), SHAHN Ben (1898-1969), SISKIND Aaron (1903-1991), SOTH Alec (1969), STEICHEN Edward (1879-1973), STETTNER Louis (1922), STRAND Paul (1890-1976), STRUTH Thomas (1954), SUDEK Josef (1896-1976), SUGIMOTO Hiroshi (1948), THORNE-THOMSEN Ruth (1943), WEBB Todd (1905-2000), WESTON Edward (1886-1958), WHITE Minor (1908-1976).
About Foto Colectania Foundation
Foto Colectania is a non-profit organisation, created in Barcelona in 2002, with the aim of spreading photography and making it known in the social, artistic and educational spheres of our country. The programmes that are carried out, from exhibitions to activities and publications, are based on the creation of an innovative and participative project whose main axis is thought around the image.
Foto Colectania, with headquarters at Paseo Picasso 14, in the heart of the Born district, has consolidated itself as a reference centre in the field of photography that houses a photographic collection of more than 3,000 works by 80 Spanish and Portuguese authors, as well as the archive of the photographer Francisco Gómez and other collections from various private collectors. Apart from the exhibition space, the new headquarters has a conservation camera to house its photography collection, a library and an audiovisual room
About the Banco Sabadell Foundation
The Banco Sabadell Foundation is the main collaborator of Foto Colectania and participates in the exhibition La belleza de las líneas. The Banco Sabadell Foundation was set up as a private foundation in 1994 with the aim of stimulating excellence and promoting knowledge and culture.
The aim of the Foundation is to promote dissemination, training and research activities in the fields of education, science and culture, as well as to encourage and support young talent. Throughout its trajectory, it has contributed to promoting activities in these fields and has also consolidated itself as the organiser of the prestigious awards: Fundación Banco Sabadell Prize for Biomedical Research, Fundación Banco Sabadell Prize for Economic Research and Fundación Banco Sabadell Prize for Science and Engineering.
![Aínda sen título. White Letter [#3] to Narelle Jubelin. (Elena Asins · Narelle Jubelin · Anna Turbau). Photograph by Roi Alonso, courtesy of Galería Nordés](/sites/default/files/styles/mopis_home_news_category_slider_desktop/public/lead-images/metalocus_narelle-jubellin_carta-aberta_22_2p.webp?h=3b4e7bc7&itok=ALbdeJ3O "Aínda sen título. White Letter [#3] to Narelle Jubelin. (Elena Asins · Narelle Jubelin · Anna Turbau). Photograph by Roi Alonso, courtesy of Galería Nordés")
![J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, Untitled [Hairstyles], 1970-79. © The artist. Courtesy of The Walther Collection and Magnin-A Gallery, Paris](/sites/default/files/styles/mopis_home_news_category_slider_desktop/public/lead-images/metalocus_-jd-okhai-ojeikere-sin-titulo-peinados-1970-79_0.webp?h=02d1ee19&itok=jUnT-sRh "J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere, Untitled [Hairstyles], 1970-79. © The artist. Courtesy of The Walther Collection and Magnin-A Gallery, Paris")
