Grandeur: the Hortensia Herrero Art Centre
When I heard that someone was rebuilding a palace on the Calle de la Mar, one of the most emblematic streets of Valencia and a building that needed so much work, I knew they were taking the place seriously. That palace was going to hold a collection on which years of money and resources had been spent, and it reminded me of the great patrons of the Renaissance. Beyond the image of a rich and prosperous family, there was something else: a giving back of art to the people, and a recognition of the great artists who have filled the last century.
I expected something impressive, and I fell short. The Centro de Arte Hortensia Herrero is a superb piece of architecture: the restoration of the seventeenth-century Palacio de Valeriola kept the spirit of the place and gave it, on top of that, an aura of grandeur. That is the word. Grandeur.
Once inside, you realise that the curators who have advised Hortensia Herrero are of the highest level. I confess it is one of the most beautiful collections I have seen anywhere in the world. Here, yes, there is personal taste, and you can tell that Anselm Kiefer is a lodestar: this year the house is almost a Kiefer monograph, and I know he likes Valencia, because he is treated very well here. Some walls had to be reinforced to bring in his pieces. Kiefer deserves a text of his own, and he will have it.
Above all, walking through the rooms, I understood that there is an effort to sum up what contemporary art has been in the last decades. The works are very well chosen, and you can follow how the isms evolved up to our days, the influences, the research, without losing the thread. And there is an effort to open the mind to what is happening at home: two rooms are given to works bought from Valencian galleries, to local artists like Toño Barreiro, next to Valencians already in history such as Juan Genovés.
It does not have the aura of a lived-in house, like Peggy Guggenheim’s. But there is something else here that is just as valid: giving Valencia back its shine. No city with grandeur fails to take pride in its human treasures, its artists. The foundation had already done it with the restoration of the church of San Nicolás, a true Valencian Sistine Chapel. Underneath it all there is a wish to give pride back to the land, and I can only imagine the satisfaction of being the executor of so much universal talent.
Photographs: Samuel Casavella, Centro de Arte Hortensia Herrero, Valencia. Works © the artists.
Wherever you are, if a work has caught your eye, or you would like my view on a piece you own or are thinking about, write to me. I will be glad to look at it with you.