Exhibitions
Fundación MAPFRE reveals its ambitious exhibition program for 2026
Fundación MAPFRE has unveiled its exhibition program for 2026, featuring thirteen shows at its venues in Madrid and Barcelona. The program ranges from historical painting and photography to contemporary works exploring previously unexplored themes in art history.
In Madrid, the season will kick off with an ambitious painting exhibition focused on art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first highlight will be "Anders Zorn: Traveling the World, Remembering the Earth ," which revisits the work of the Swedish artist (1860-1920), considered one of the most important painters of his time in Europe and the United States. The exhibition traces his career from his early watercolors and formative travels to his period in Paris, where he established himself as a leading figure in naturalism, and his subsequent travels in America before returning to Sweden in 1896.
Alejandro Cartagena, Carpoolers #21, from the series Carpoolers, 2011-2012. Courtesy of the artist © Alejandro Cartagena.
Simultaneously, the first retrospective in Spain of Helen Levitt (New York, 1913-2009), one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century, will open. The exhibition, based on archives recently opened to researchers, spans more than six decades of her career, including her time in Mexico in 1941 and her experiments with color from the 1950s onward. Levitt sensitively captured urban life, paying particular attention to children's games and the expressiveness of adults and the elderly.
From June 6th, visitors can enjoy the works of Richard Avedon and Alejandro Cartagena, while the closing exhibition of the Madrid season will address topics little explored in art history: the representation of Pre-Raphaelite women and the relationship between avant-garde artists and patients with mental health issues. The exhibition "The Other Side of the Avant-Garde" focuses on the dialogue between the art of psychiatric patients and avant-garde creation, offering a unique and little-known perspective on 20th-century art.
Walker Evans, West Virginia Living Room, 1935, Private Collection, San Francisco, © Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the field of photography, the KBr center will kick off the year with Walker Evans: Now and Then , a retrospective of the work of the influential American photographer, ranging from his self-portraits of the 1920s to his Polaroids of the 1970s, accompanied by books and publications that showcase his inexhaustible powers of observation. Alongside this, an exhibition dedicated to Pérez Siquier will be presented, bringing together some of his most emblematic series, such as La Chanca , Informalismos , and La Briseña , resuming the exhibition that was prematurely closed in 2020 due to the pandemic.
During the summer, KBr will showcase the work of Minor White and Joaquín Tusquets de Cabirol, and the center's program will conclude with an exhibition by Dutch photographer Dana Lixenberg and a new edition of KBr FLAMA, consolidating the center as a benchmark in contemporary photography.
Minor White, Windowsill Daydreaming, Rochester. July 17, 1958. From the sequence Sound of One Hand, 1960. The Minor White Archive, Princeton University Art Museum, bequest of Minor White. © Trustees of Princeton University.
With this program, Fundación MAPFRE reinforces its commitment to offering a diverse and high-quality journey through the history of art and photography, combining great historical names with innovative and little-explored proposals, making 2026 an essential year for lovers of visual culture.
