Fundación Mapfre will hold 13 exhibitions in Madrid and Barcelona with Anders Zorn, Helen Levitt or Pre-Raphaelite women in 2026

Mapfre Foundation announced this Wednesday its exhibition programming for 2026, with a total of thirteen exhibitions between its halls in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​among which stand out, among others, Anders Zorn, Helen Levitt or pre-Raphaelite women unknown to the general public.

As sources from the foundation have detailed to Europa Press, the idea is that the scheduled exhibitions visit the two cities, a proposal highly demanded by the visitors themselves, whose profile is far from that of tourists, since they are mostly local residents. So far in 2025, the exhibitions in the two cities have brought together nearly 390,000 visitors.

In Madrid, the year will begin with a painting exhibition, focused on the art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and with another dedicated to one of the most relevant women in the history of 20th century photography: Helen Levitt.

The first appointment of the year will be ‘Anders Zorn. Travel the world, remember the land’an exhibition about the Swedish artist from the period between centuries and also established himself, thanks to his technical virtuosity, as one of the most prestigious creators in Europe and the United States.

The exhibition tour presents an interesting and complete overview of his work as a whole: from his first watercolors, his training trips and his later establishment in Paris – where he was one of the protagonists of the triumph of naturalist painting – until his return to Sweden in 1896 and his travels through the American continent. His Spanish production is also included, with works made in Seville, Cádiz and Granada, as well as other pieces that testify to his friendship with Joaquín Sorolla or Ramón Casas.

In parallel, in the Halls of Paseo de Recoletos, you can see the work of Helen Levitt (New York, 1913-2009) who, for more than six decades, found inspiration in the spontaneity of urban life. The artist focused on street photography and felt a special fascination with children in their games. He also keenly observed adults and the elderly, capturing with great empathy and sensitivity the gestures, movements and emotions of people, as well as the complexity, fears and joys of existence.

This is the first retrospective organized from the photographer’s archives, recently accessible to researchers. The journey covers his entire career and includes his stay in Mexico in 1941 as well as the incorporation of color from the 1950s onwards and several hitherto unpublished works.

Both exhibitions will open to the public from February 19 to May 17.. Starting June 6, also in Madrid, you can see the photographs of Richard Avedon and Alejandro Cartagena.

For five years, Richard Avedon (New York, 1923-San Antonio, Texas, 2004) portrayed miners, cowboys, fairgrounds and vendors, alone or in small groups, against a white background in order to enhance their features, postures and expressions. The result was a representation of the territory and its inhabitants that differed significantly from the traditional images that idealized the legend of the American West. The series became a benchmark in the history of photographic portraiture and one of the milestones of its author’s career.

‘Ground Rules’ is the title of Alejandro Cartagena’s retrospective, which covers more than two decades of the prolific career of the renowned photographer born in 1977 in the Dominican Republic and based in Mexico. The artist has constructed a work that challenges the traditional concept of the decisive moment, betting on seriality and the multiplicity of perspectives to address the complex realities of Mexico.

THE UNKNOWN OF ART

To end the year, Fundación Mapfre will present two exhibitions on topics little explored in artistic historiography: one dedicated to Pre-Raphaelite women and another to the relationship between avant-garde artists and authors with mental health problems.

‘Pre-Raphaelism: feminine itineraries’ (1850-1914) revisits the Pre-Raphaelite art that emerged in Great Britain after 1948, with a renewed look by exploring the response of women artists to this new and stimulating style, which emerged against official academic art and remained in force until the first years of the 20th century. This is one of the institution’s big bets this year.

The exhibition will also be inaugurated ‘The other shore of the avant-garde’which focuses on a chapter of art that is normally hidden but represents one of the most interesting pages in its history: the dialogue established between the work made by psychiatric patients and avant-garde art. Additionally, in the field of photography, in its rooms on Paseo de Recoletos, the institution will house Minor White, from the KBr center.

BARCELONA

The season of the KBr photography center will begin with exhibitions Walker Evans. Now and Then y Perez Siquier. MAPFRE Foundation Collections.

The first of them proposes a broad review of Evans’ work and his influence on subsequent generations of artists. This exhibition brings together key photographs and projects that cover his entire career, from the self-portraits of the 1920s to his Polaroids of the 1970s, along with books and publications that reflect his inexhaustible capacity for observation.

Through this set, the exhibition reveals a creator who not only documented the world around him, but also invited debate about the nature of photography and the very perception of reality.

For its part, the exhibition dedicated to Pérez Siquier brings together a relevant selection of the author’s works that make up some of his most emblematic series, such as La Chanca, Informalismos, La playa, Encuentros, Trampas para gullibles and La Briseña. The Mapfre Foundation thus resumes the 2020 exhibition, which was closed early – just three weeks after its inauguration – due to COVID-19.

The summer programming will feature Minor White y Joaquín Tusquets de Cabirol. Minor White (Minneapolis, 1908-1976) was a key figure in 20th century American photography, for his role as a teacher at prestigious institutions such as the California School of Fine Arts, the George Eastman House and MIT. Furthermore, his editorial work as co-founder, editor and director of Aperture magazine placed him at the epicenter of the American photographic debate of the second half of the century.

The exhibition offers an exhaustive view of the photographer’s production and covers his most representative themes, such as nature photography, portraiture and street photography, in a work characterized by strong introspection and spirituality.

Within the Foundation program for the conservation and dissemination of Catalan photographic archives, the exhibition will be presented Joaquín Tusquets de Cabirol. The eloquent way a clear example of the recovery of the legacy of an amateur photographer, but of great interest, who deserves to be known, published and exhibited. After decades of oblivion, a selection of funds from his photographic archive – made up of nearly a thousand copies and four thousand negatives made between 1940 and 1960 – is presented with the aim of highlighting the work of this artist, largely unknown until now.

In addition, as a complement to the programming, conferences and workshop visits will be offered for schools and families.