During the existence of the museum as a private institution, emphasis was placed on exhibiting and publishing. Acquisitions of new artworks were not among its principal activities and therefore the process of building up the collection was slow – it mainly consisted of gifts donated by artists. Thus, the museum acquired a high quality collection of works from major Slovak and foreign artists: Gérard Rancinan, Jiří Načeradský, Bahram Hajou and many others.
The change of the museum’s status has changed its primary focus, shifting it towards the building up of the collection, particularly of Slovak art of the second half of the twentieth century in relation to contemporary development. Diverse forms of acquisition include purchasing from artists, grants from cultural programmes, sponsorship and patronage as well as donations from artists. In this way the museum acquired works by Ayako Rokkaku, Ľubo Mikle, Viktor Frešo and other artists.
