It is with great satisfaction that MOKBA is at last able to do justice to an invaluable artistic legacy, hitherto unknown to specialists and the public alike, in presenting here for the first time a selection of works from the Trepat Collection of Modern Photography. These photographic fonds owe their existence not to any passion for collecting on the part of the Trepat family but to a commitment to commissioning internationally acclaimed photographers to supply the images for the publications, promotional materials and graphic documentation associated with the activities of a major industrial complex that was for decades one of the engines of the Spanish economy. What makes them so significant, however, is that, seen in historical perspective and liberated from their original utilitarian function, the pieces gathered together here provide a superb overview of the entire aesthetic trajectory of the artistic avant-gardes. We are convinced that the discovery of these works will not be a matter of indifference to either the discerning public or to academia.

Joan Fontcuberta.