The Museo Nacional del Prado is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Friends Association

Forty years of friendship. Donations to the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado is the title of the exhibition on display until 16 January 2022 in Room 9 of the Villanueva Building. It pays tribute to the tens of thousands of Friends who have offered their support to the Museum and whose example will undoubtedly encourage further donations.

For the first time, the exhibition brings together the donations of art made by the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado thanks to the generosity of its members. These are 36 works by a significant roll-call of artists, including three of the great masters of Spanish art who have become universal figures: Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya and Pablo Picasso, all of them furthermore closely connected to the Museo del Prado.

Since it was founded in December 1980 the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado has not only contributed to expanding and enriching the Museum’s holdings but has also promoted greater knowledge of its collections through a comprehensive programme of activities. From the time it was created until now, more than 80,000 participants have benefited from the Fundación’s courses, it has awarded 1,568 grants, has benefited from the participation of 650 lecturers and its international projects have seen more than 58,000 visitors. Since the time of the signing of the agreement between the two institutions in 2009 the Fundación has contributed around 30 million Euros to the Museum.

Forty years of friendship. Donations to the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado is curated by Alberto Pancorbo, head of the Department of Activities of the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, with the advice of Javier Portús, Chief Curator of Spanish Painting at the Museo del Prado. Organised to mark the 40^th anniversary of the Fundación, the exhibition is intended as a tribute and expression of thanks to all the Friends who have supported the Museum over the past forty years.

Over the course of that period the Fundación has contributed to the dissemination, study and enlargement of the Prado’s collections through the generosity of all its Friends and the collaboration of numerous bodies and institutions, successfully involving civil society in order to achieve its mission of supporting the Museum.

For Carlos Zurita, Duke of Soria, President of the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, “It is a great source of pride to see how this exhibition brings together the results of the generosity of so many Friends, thanks to whom our institution has been able to play its part in contributing to the collection of the Museo del Prado. Each of these works is proof of their love of and loyalty to the Museum.”

The exhibition focuses on the different ways in which the Fundación has contributed to expanding and enriching the Museum’s holdings in the form of a highly important group of works that spans 500 years: from the early 16^th to the 19^th century. In the words of Miguel Falomir, Director of the Museo Nacional del Prado: “Since its foundation in 1980 the Fundación has always been receptive to the wide range of requests it has received from the Museum and has responded to them to the greatest extent possible, while also taking the initiative itself in the form of significant and innovative actions.”

The works in the exhibition are divided into four sections based on the different ways in which the Fundación has contributed to enhancing the Museum’s collections. The first, in which the most important exhibit is The Virgin of the Pomegranate by Fra Angelico, includes the majority of works donated to the Museum. It culminates with Goya’s painting of The victorious Hannibal seeing Italy from the Alps for the first time, donated by the Fundación on the occasion of its 40^th anniversary. The second section includes a group of twelve works from the 96 created by contemporary artists whom the Fundación invited to establish dialogues with the Museum’s collections and which were subsequently donated to it. The third section features donations from the Prints and Drawings Committee set up by the Fundación within its Círculo Velázquez with the goal of contributing to that part of the collection. The final section focuses on works that relate to the Fundación’s most international facet, either donated by its International Board or by American Friends of the Prado Museum, an organisation that shares its aims.