The exhibition begins with drawings by Spanish artists who are still linked to tradition, but who display characteristics that herald the arrival of the next century. Mariano Fortuny, Joaquín Sorolla and Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz were cosmopolitan artists who worked outside our borders and, as well as enjoying considerable success, discovered the works of masters such as Edgar Degas, Auguste Rodin and Egon Schiele. Pablo Picasso's presence in Paris is also significant, as he spent a large part of his career there, and his work served as a link between the most innovative trends in Paris and the art produced in Spain.
Drawings by Darío de Regoyos, Joaquim Sunyer, Enric Casanovas, Manuel Ángeles Ortiz and Francis Picabia interact with each other to evoke a change of era and a heterogeneous art that incorporated elements of the avant-garde movements, particularly through Picasso, but also the early work of Salvador Dalí and Joaquín Torres García, to name but a few examples.