Local authorities in Valencia recently purchased for this collection a splendid group of Julio González’s sculptures and drawings, which otherwise would never have been seen here. Such a commitment of funds to acquire the work of a Spanish artist is uncommon in Spain, at both the institutional and the private levels, as is the eagerness it indicates to develop important collections of recent art. These facts attest to the vitality of Valencian attitudes toward the arts, and also reflect the cultural autonomy characteristic of the region. Since the ’50s the work of artists and critics from Valencia