If you wonder outside our borders about the great painters of the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, the names of Miró, Dalí, Picasso quickly emerge … But the list ends here. With the exception of specialists, it is very difficult for us to find someone who has heard of Rusiñol, Meifrèn, Mir, Gimeno, Anglada Camarasa …, artists who are not represented in the great international museums, except those who have collections of Spanish art such as the Meadows in Dallas or the Hispanic Society of America in New York, and therefore cannot compete in the market with their French or German counterparts from the same period.
‘Cave in Mallorca (Sa Calobra)’ by Joaquim Mir
Aware of this situation, two galleries in Barcelona (Sala Parés and Artur Ramón Art) and one in London (Colnaghi) have sealed a three-year strategic alliance –it is no longer about competing, but about collaborating and joining forces- that seeks to bring the art of all that time out of obscurity and give it its rightful place.
‘Cemetery and Church’ by Modest Urgell
The Colnaghi Gallery, an institution in the world of art and antiquities founded in 1760, hosted in July a first exhibition in the middle of the pandemic, The Golden Age of Spanish Modern Art , whose success (nine of the fourteen works presented were sold) has encouraged them to redouble their commitment with a second exhibition dedicated to landscapes, Spanish Modern Landscapes , which opens its doors next Wednesday in London and will visit the Artur Ramón gallery in May.
‘Landscape of Montserrat’, by Anglada-Camarasa
“The main objective is to reach the large international institutions, because a painting in a museum is a painting that is shared, and that also opens the eyes and the message reaches collectors in a clearer way,” says Jorge Coll, from Barcelona who since 2016 has owned the Colnaghi gallery, with offices in Madrid and New York, as well as the historic one in London, which has recently carried out similar operations around, for example, Spanish baroque sculpture.
The Colnaghi gallery, founded in 1760, is currently owned by Jorge Coll from Barcelona.
“The largest collection of this great period of Catalan art is being made by an Englishman who lives in Barcelona. Interest exists, but it must be stimulated ”, points out Joan Anton Maragall. And Artur Ramón adds that “unlike other countries, here an institutional impulse has been lacking. Exhibitions have been organized at the Metropolitan, Cleveland or Amsterdam, but much remains to be done. And that is a very big company that cannot be done alone, that’s why the three of us are here ”.
Between the three galleries they total 500 years and they assure that although the covid has put many works on the market, it has not been easy to collect “museum-worthy” paintings such as those shown in the exhibition. Landscapes of Rusiñol, Mir, Nonell, Meifrèn, Raurich or Barrau, whose prices range between 20,000 and 300,000 euros.
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