Art Madrid'25 – I segni nel tempo, spanish drawings from Uffizi Collection in Madrid

 

The Louvre Museum, the Hispanic Society of New York, the Met Museum NY, the British Museum in London, all them have the most important collections of Spanish drawing in the world... Now we discover these days in Madrid the collection belonging to the Gallery the Uffizi in Florence, a collection in which several researchers have deepened in recent years to discover many unknown authorship.

 

 

 

 

 

"I Segni nel tempo" is the exhibition organized by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the MAPFRE Foundation and Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe of the Galleries degli Uffizi, which includes more than 100 drawings of the Florentine collection, from the most representative Spanish artists of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries and the most popular artists of the Spanish Golden Age: Alonso Berruguete, Gaspar Becerra, Luis de Vargas, José de Ribera, Alonso Cano, Francisco de Herrera the Younger, Antonio del Castillo, Vicente Carducho, Juan Carreño, Francisco Rizi, Claudio Coello and Miguel Jacinto Meléndez.

 

 

 

 

The appeal of this collection lies in the presence of unique examples to study the creative process of Spanish artists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, designs for the study of major works of Spanish cultural heritage. It is an opportunity to meet many drawings completely unknown so far and others that have never been exhibited in Spain.

 


 

 

The origin of the collection dates back to 1745, the approximate date on which the Florentine merchant Giovanni Filippo Michelozzi was in Madrid. The Spanish drawing always was attractive to the taste of the Italian collectors and a first set of drawings was bought by the Royal Gallery of Florence in 1779 (thanks to the procurement policy sponsored by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Pietro Leopoldo of Habsburg Lorena and director the Royal Uffizi Gallery, Giuseppe Pelli Bencivenni). The rest was acquired later by sculptor Emilio Santarelli (1801-1886) and donated in 1866 to the Florentine institution with an extraordinary legacy of 12,704 designs.

 

 


 

 

 

An exhaustive research work, in which they have invested more than two years, has revealed more than seventy new authorships who were badly allocated between the bottom of Italian drawings, Flemish and German for what has revised more than 40,000 drawings and the entire photographic archive of the institution. The catalog that accompanies the exhibition, with a high scientific and graphic value, is a work of fundamental reference for the study of Spanish drawing in general and knowledge of the collection of Spanish drawings from the Uffizi in particular, a fundamental part of Spanish heritage beyond our borders.

From July 7 to 9, 2025, the Balsera Palace will host the First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art, an intensive 15-hour program that will explore the complex and fundamental question of taste in contemporary art. Organized by the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities at Nebrija University and the Avilés City Council, in collaboration with 9915 — Association of Private Collectors of Contemporary Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art, the course offers a unique opportunity for analysis and debate on the dynamics that shape aesthetic and symbolic value in today’s art scene.


First Course on Collecting and Contemporary Art. Avilés, Asturias


The notion of taste, intrinsically tied to aesthetic judgments and power relations, has played a decisive role in the historical prominence of artists and artworks. However, contemporary art—marked by its breaking of conventions, diversity of media and techniques, and critical stance toward traditional canons—raises fundamental questions about the continued relevance of this concept.

This course will explore how the decisions made by key players in the art system—institutions, private collections, galleries, curators, and artists—continually redefine a field of taste shaped by aesthetic, symbolic, cultural, social, and political logics.


"¿But does it exist, and what is the prevailing taste of our time—so seemingly confused, fragmented, indecipherable?" - Omar Calabrese, The Neo-Baroque Era.


The academic program, directed by José Luis Guijarro Alonso, Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University, and Pablo Álvarez de Toledo, Head of the Department of Arts at Nebrija University and the Nebrija Institute of Arts and Humanities, will bring together a distinguished group of national experts—including collectors, critics, curators, gallery owners, and artists—whose contributions will address key issues in shaping aesthetic, symbolic, and market value in today’s art world.


PROGRAM

MONDAY, JULY 7

9:30 AM Registration.

10:00 AM Course Opening Nebrija University Avilés City Council Presented by Rosario López Meras – President of the Association of Contemporary Art Collectors, 9915, and Adrián Piera – President of the ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art.

10:30 AM Course Presentation By José Luis Guijarro Alonso – Art Historian and Anthropologist, Researcher, and Director of the Master’s in Art Market and Related Business Management at Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion The Taste of Private Collecting as a Prelude to History. Speakers: Candela Álvarez Soldevilla – Entrepreneur and Collector; Javier Quilis – INELCOM Collection; José Miguel Vegas Valle – Collector. Moderator: Luis Feás – Critic and Curator.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Individual Lecture On Good Taste in Contemporary Art. Speaker: Marisol Salanova – Curator and Art Critic, Director of Arteinformado.

4:45 PM Panel Discussion The Influence of Galleries in Shaping Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Elba Benítez – Gallerist; Ricardo Pernas – Gallerist (Arniches 26); Aurora Vigil-Escalera – Gallerist. Moderator: Rafael Martín – Coleccion@casamer.

6:00 PM End of Day.

6:30 PM Activity and Cocktail Visit to the Exhibition Asturian Artists in the Pérez Simón Collection – Avilés.

TUESDAY, JULY 8

10:00 AM Individual Lecture Contemporary (Bad) Taste: Kitsch, Camp, and Tacky. Speaker: Julio Pérez Manzanares – Autonomous University of Madrid.

11:00 AM Coffee Break.

11:30 AM Panel Discussion Institutions and the Formation of Contemporary Taste. Speakers: Virginia López – Artist, Founder of PACA_Proyectos Artísticos Casa Antonino; Julieta de Haro – Artistic Director of CentroCentro; Carlos Urroz – Director of Institutional Relations, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Moderator: Laura Gutiérrez – Director, School of Art of Oviedo.

1:00 PM Lunch Break.

3:30 PM Panel Discussion Beyond the Eye: The Taste for Ethical, Ecological, Social, or Political Concerns in Contemporary Art. Speakers: Semíramis González – Independent Curator; Eugenio Ampudia – Artist; Claudia Rodríguez-Ponga – Independent Curator. Moderator: Bárbara Mur Borrás – PhD in Fine Arts.

5:00 PM End of Day.

5:30 PM Activity Visit to the Studiolo Exhibition – Candela Álvarez Soldevilla Collection.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9

9:30 AM Meeting with Asturian Artists Speakers: María Castellanos – Artist; Avelino Sala – Artist; Consuelo Vallina – Artist. Moderator: Pablo Álvarez de Toledo – Nebrija University.

11:00 AM Activity Visit to the Niemeyer Center – Avilés.

Course Closing Ceremony.





This course is designed for art professionals, collectors, researchers, and students seeking an in-depth analysis of the dynamics that shape taste and collecting practices in contemporary art. Adopting a critical and multidisciplinary perspective, it provides a unique opportunity to rigorously examine the aesthetic, symbolic, and structural factors that underpin the legitimization of contemporary art.