Collection MER

Marcos Martín Blanco and Elena Rueda began to acquire artworks in 1979. Over the years, the MER Foundation has gathered more than 800 works and includes important pieces from the best contemporary artists. The collection specialises in European and American figuration since 1980. This attention to figuration as distinct from painting and photography, has led Marcos and Elena to seek the masterpieces of artists such as Eric Fischl, Francesco Clemente, David Salle, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Ruff, Marlen Dumas, Lisa Yuscavage, Merilyn Minter, Luis Gordillo and Cecily Brown. The collection includes more than 180 artists: Miquel Barceló, José María Sicilia, Antoni Tàpies, Mompó, Palazuelo, Gordillo, Zóbel or Soledad Sevilla, among the Spanish artists, and Warhol, LeWitt, Oelen, Basquiat, David Sala or Julian Schnabel, among the international ones. In 2004 it was awarded the Collecting Prize by the ARCO art fair. This catalogue includes two introductory texts by Patricio Pron and Dan Cameron, one a more literary and personal appraisal of the founder and the collection, and the other one a technical and critical view.