Art Centre
and Foundation
The Hortensia Herrero Art Centre was created with a dual purpose: to share with society the most exciting contemporary art at the international level and to contribute to making the Comunitat Valenciana a leading cultural and artistic destination.
This new venue brings together the private collection of its patron Hortensia Herrero, which includes works by artists such as Andreas Gursky, Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, Anish Kapoor and Mat Collishaw. Some of these artists have created specific works that occupy specific spaces in the Art Centre.
GREETINGS
FROM THE PRESIDENT
HORTENSIA HERRERO
The contemporary art collection that can be admired at the Hortensia Herrero Art Centre, some of the brushstrokes of which can be seen in this digital space, is the fruit of a life, my own, in which art has been a vitally important component. Like most collectors, I began by taking an interest in the artists closest to me, those who created or exhibited in my home city of Valencia.
In 2013, I attended the opening of the exhibition “Sorolla and America” in Dallas, where I was able to see the type of patronage that is so characteristic of Anglo-Saxon societies, which consists of giving back to society what it has given you. There I met Javier Molins, with whom I began to work on an idea I had been contemplating for some time: opening a museum through which I could share my collection. At that time, Valencians had to travel to cities such as Paris, New York or London to see cutting-edge contemporary art, so we began to work on the ambitious idea of building an international art collection comprising a roster of artists on a par with those to be seen in the world’s leading contemporary art centres.
I had a clear idea, now it was a matter of finding a home for the collection that we would administer. This is how we found the Valeriola Palace, an architectural jewel located in the heart of Valencia that was in need of a thorough restoration. The ERRE architecture studio, led by my daughter Amparo Roig and José Martí, made my dream of converting this palace into a modern-day art centre come true.
Bringing together the work of all these top artists has not been easy. In order to achieve it, we have had to visit exhibitions, art fairs, artists’ studios, etc. always with the aim of finding the best work from each artist. In addition, we wanted some of them to leave their permanent mark through a series of installations made specifically for this space. Over the years, we have come to have a close relationship with many of them.
I would like to thank my entire team for their efforts, especially my husband Juan Roig and my four daughters and sons-in-law, because they have always supported me on the long journey that has led to this art centre and this collection, which I would now like to share with the whole world.
THE PALACE OF CONTEMPORARY ART
The Hortensia Herrero Art Centre consists of two four-storey buildings that house a total of 17 exhibition spaces spread over more than 3,500m².
The restoration of the former Valeriola Palace has taken more than 5 years to transform this iconic building into an art centre. A building full of history where a fragment of the circus dating back to Roman Valentia has been found and which between the 11th and 13th centuries formed part of the Moorish city of Balansiya.
THE FOUNDATION
The Hortensia Herrero Foundation was created in 2012 with the aim of promoting interest, knowledge and appreciation of art and culture through projects created in the Comunitat Valenciana by artists from all over the world. Its president, Hortensia Herrero, is the sole patron of the foundation and through this patronage she channels her vocation and philosophy of returning back to society what she has received from it. Its work focuses on three areas:
