Many visitors, abundant Spanish art, and a wave of gallery owners herald the start of ARCO, as the fair opens its 42nd edition this Wednesday with high hopes and a drive to meet them. The aim is to draw international collectors while avoiding overemphasis on provocative pieces.
The doors of Ifema Halls 7 and 9 opened at 11:00 a.m. for professionals, and soon the corridors filled with the public as if it were a festival day.
This year, gallery optimism rose significantly, with the number of participating galleries up by twenty compared with 2022. Everything points to a push to rebound after several challenging years marked by the pandemic and global conflict.
Juana de Aizpuru, founder of the fair, notes that the Spanish market feels for the moment a bit out of place, while Latin American collectors continue to invest heavily in Spain, acquiring homes and filling them with art. This sentiment underscores a renewed focus on cross–regional opportunities.
Senior galleries presented strong, colorful offerings in large formats, with attention turning to Latin American buyers and Madrid as a potential European hub for modern and contemporary art.
Miguel Bosé takes part in a press shoot at ARCO gates
His standout piece is a Federico Guzmán canvas measuring almost 3.5 meters by 2 meters, rendered in vivid hues. Large works by Wolfgang Tillmans, Miguel Angel Campano, and Philipp Fröhlich also attracted attention with imposing dimensions and striking color combinations.
In pursuit of international collectors
The Spanish market remains stable, yet foreign collectors, particularly from Latin America, appear unfazed by war, inflation, or lingering pandemic effects. They are the ones most capable of acquiring the year’s priciest works; a monumental Chillida piece valued at 3.7 million euros weighs 1,500 kilograms, while the smaller Puerta de Libertad I commands about 2.4 million (Guillermo de Osma gallery). Basque sculpture and works by Joan Miró top the year’s price records.
Miró’s La femme et l’oiseau carries a 2 million euro price tag (Mayoral Gallery), and another sizeable oil on canvas is priced at 1.6 million euros (Leandro Navarro Gallery). A cubist-era Juan Gris and a Fernand Léger painting, Nature Morte, hover near 1.3 and 0.9 million euros respectively.
There are also a few Tapies pieces including a bronze armchair priced at around 380,000 euros and the enigmatic Juan Muñoz statues listed near 800,000 euros. A Richard Serra drawing at 700,000 euros followed closely behind.
The scarcity of Chillida and Miró works has driven prices upward for collectors worldwide, according to gallery owners. There was no Picasso work at the fair this year. Íñigo Navarro’s usual Picasso offerings from Malaga could not be secured, due to the sheer volume of exhibitions around the artist’s anniversary.
ARCO reveals its priciest piece: a 3.7 million euro Chillida
All participating galleries expressed enthusiasm about the turnout. The fair attracted nearly 400 international collectors and 200 professionals, a record figures in ARCO history. The consensus is that ARCO succeeds best when it draws global collectors to the event.
Neither controversy nor political art dominates
The discussions typically associated with the fair were less pronounced this year. A veiled Picasso work from 2017 by Eugenio Merino drew media attention for its elegance rather than controversy.
Representatives from Barcelona galleries showcased provocative works with strong political messages, such as a neon piece that says Emosido Engañados and a bunker piece by Eugenio Ampudia connected to Guernica. Ukraine’s Voloshyn gallery highlighted two Ukrainian artists, Nikita Kadan and Mykola Ridniyi, who set up a basement space in the early days of the occupation to shelter artists and their families.
Among the period’s slogans were Stop buying gas from the fascists, Decolonized Russia, and Gas embargo on Russia, which appeared during the initial weeks in dialogue with the exhibition space. The José de la Mano gallery displayed four politically oriented pieces not for sale, created by Agustín Ibarrola using bread scraps and his own saliva while imprisoned. The gallery owner notes that the Basque artist faced imprisonment in 1963, shortly after the dissolution of Equipo 57, and continued to work with limited resources.
The gallery owner remains optimistic about the turnout. In past years, invitations had arrived early, but this year the first day saw a strong audience. There is a sense that many galleries have placed their most significant works on display and prepared for a robust week ahead.