The exhibition Últimas adquisiciones. Material Especial (Latest Acquisitions. Special Material) displays the collection of documents the Centro de Documentación (Documentation Centre) and the Biblioteca (Library) of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía have incorporated into their collections in recent years. In the words of the Museum Library's director, Miguel Valle-Inclán, the work of the centre involves, “gathering together useful research materials in the field of contemporary art with the aim of meeting the demands of museum specialists and the general public.”
The documentation and all the additions present in the exhibition are arranged into five groups, depending on the nature of the material; therefore, both in the catalogue and the exhibition itself, the pieces are classified by sections: books, exhibition catalogues, announcements and pamphlets, ZAJ documents and magazines. For acquisition and conservation purposes, the collection makes it possible to check the first and essential sources of the History of Contemporary Art, many of which, because they are fragile, or because of the edition date or special characteristics, are materials that cannot be freely accessed, meaning that this exhibition is an important source of reference.
Noteworthy among the books is Dictionnaire abrégé du Surréalisme (Paris, Galerie Beaux-Arts, 1938), meanwhile among the leaflets the incorporation of Dalí. Metamorphosis of Narcissus, (Julien Levy Gallery, New York, 1937) is worth mentioning. In terms of the catalogues, there are André Masson. Espagne. 1934-1936 and Dalí (Julien Levy Gallery, New York, 1934), and finally, among the invitations, manifestos and announcements there are A Note on the Affair of the Surrealism Film L´Age d´Or, Cloud and Neutralité? Non-Sens, Crime et Trahison! Paris, 1936.
All the compiled documents outline the main lines of activity of the Biblioteca and Centro de Documentación, synthesised by Valle-Inclán in the exhibition catalogue. As a result the starting point that must take precedence in the acquisition of materials is whether they are useful to the History of twentieth century Art in Spain, with a particular focus on Spanish artists. Likewise, they must support and bibliographically complement the Museo Reina Sofía's approach to international art, particularly art after 1945. In terms of the magazines, the Centro de Documentación's objective is to acquire Spanish publication numbers that are particularly relevant to the History of Spanish Art this century, for instance Art (Barcelona, 1933-1937), Troços (Barcelona, 1917-1978) or the first period of the Revista de Occidente (1923-1936).
Moreover, as a more precise objective of the Centro de Documentación, the services of the Museo Reina Sofía look to specialise in Surrealism. The reason being that as an international movement Spanish artists’ contributions have been key to its development as it was deeply-rooted in Spain and subsequently highly relevant to contemporary art.
