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This marvellous Blue-period portrait (1901) by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was painted shortly after his first visit to Paris – he painted the insolent-looking courtesan from memory. When the painting failed to win a national exhibition, a disgruntled Picasso discarded it. It was discovered several years later.

Hermengildo Anglada Camarasa (1871–1959) had a sensual style as this evocative painting (c.1913) shows.

José Gutiérrez Solana (1886–1945) loved to record the social life of the capital, as in this 1920 portrait of a literary group. The painting’s owner, novelist and poet Ramón Gómez de la Serna, is shown standing in the centre.

Juan Gris (1887–1927) became one of Cubism’s leading exponents. This 1925 work is an excellent example.

Catalan artist Salvador Dalí (1904–89) was a leading exponent of Surrealism, with its exploration of the subconscious. The figure of the Masturbator (1929) is derived from a weird rock formation at Cadaqués.

In this 1933 painting Benjamin Palencia (1894–1980) evokes the arid landscape of La Mancha, while the animals appear symbolic.

Joan Miró (1893– 1983) encompassed Cubism and Surrealism but he never lost his extraordinary originality. In this 1938 work the Catalan painter is more interested in juxtaposing colours rather than revealing the physical attributes of the sitter.

This 1939 still life by Luis Fernández (1900–73) harks back to the classical traditions of 17th-century Spanish painting. Fernández experimented with abstraction and Surrealism before settling on his own figurative style.

Antoní Tàpies (b.1923) is arguably Spain’s most important postwar artist. His “matter paintings”, including this 1961 work, explore texture and are composed by adding layers of mixed media, such as sand, pigment, powdered marble and paint, onto a prevarnished canvas.

This entertaining 1972 work, in which two suited artists slug it out among outsized tubes of paint, is by “Equipo Crónica”, aka artists Rafael Solbes (1940–81) and Manuel Valdés (b.1942). The duo were inspired by Pop Art.