Culture and solidarity joined hands this week in Barcelona. The Majestic hotel hosted the first edition of the Spring Art Barcelona charity art auction, which raised 158,100 euros. Money that will be donated entirely to the IRES Foundation, which has been helping families living in vulnerable situations for more than fifty years.
The journalist and former director of La Vanguardia was the presenter of a gala attended by around 300 people, many of them linked to artistic institutions, such as Ainhoa Grandes, from the Macba Foundation; Natalia Chocarro, from the Vila Casas Foundation; or Valentí Oviedo, from the Gran Teatre del Liceu, among others. The director of Christie's, Beatriz Ordovás, in charge of directing the auction, also attended.
The public was able to bid on fifteen works, all of them inspired by spring and created exclusively for that day. “The response was very good. Authors of different kinds joined this initiative. Some of them are known. Others have been in the sector for less time and do not have a gallery but they had the opportunity to make themselves known”, Bettina Farreras, CEO and founder of Togetherplus and main promoter of this event, explained to La Vanguardia.
These fifteen works were joined by an extra one, also for sale, the photograph Liceu Opera Barcelona, 1847, Spain
"It was the work that reached a higher price: 10,000 euros," says Farreras. It was followed by Regina Giménez and her Cosmic Geometry, for which 8,000 euros were bid; and Untitled, by Manolo Ballesteros, which earned 7,200 euros. “A magical night to repeat”, concludes Farreras.
