Permanent collection at the Centro Velázquez

The Centro Velázquez was created in 2007 following the acquisition of the painting, “Santa Rufina”, by the Seville painter as an answer to the foundation’s interest in sharing the early works of the artist’s Seville era.

The permanent exhibition contains 15 pieces, some by Velázquez and others by various artists with whom the painter had an extensive relationship, like Francisco Pacheco or Zurbarán.

The Murillo and Justino de Neve exhibition: The Friendship Arts

The Murillo and Justino de Neve exhibition. The Friendship Arts (Murillo y Justino de Neve. El arte de la amistad) was jointly organized together with the Prado National Museum (Museo Nacional del Prado) in Madrid and the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, which currently houses the exhibition, a journey through the most mature era of Murillo. This exhibition contains 16 later pieces, as a result of his relationship with Justino de Neve, canon of the Seville Cathedral and an important personal friend and sponsor of the artist.

In the context of the exhibition, the Hospital de Los Venerables, the foundation headquarters, became uniquely valuable on that occasion, holding the exhibition from 9th October 2012 to 20th January 2013, since it was precisely Justino de Neve who founded the institution in 1670. The four paintings of Murillo, then sheltered by the Hospital de Los Venerables, were done by the artist for and in Seville, but later subjected to cultural heritage plunder, and today, only one of such pieces is still in its original place.

The exhibition became an exceptional occasion for contemplating the Inmaculada de Los Venerables in the original place in which it was until 1813 and which was loaned by the foundation for the exhibition. There were 45,455 visits over the course of the three month plus exhibition period.

The impact of the exhibition in Seville was evaluated through the application of SROI methodology, yielding a ratio of 1.15 €; in other words, every euro invested by Abengoa in the exhibition generated 1.15 € in social value. Exhibition visitors found that the collection contributed to dissemination and appreciation of Sevillian culture, and also experienced improvement in their moods and spirits upon completing the visit. Also taken into consideration were recognition of the particular identity and the positive economic impact on local businesses.

Baroque School

During the year, the Focus-Abengoa Foundation and the Menéndez Pelayo International University jointly organized the IX edition of the Baroque School, which focused on Artistic Patronage in the Seville of Murillo, in honour of the Murillo and Justino de Neve exhibition. The Friendship Art.

On that occasion, this cycle of conferences, graced by the presence and participation of Baroque world experts, was directed by Gabriele Finaldi, Joint Director of Conservation and Research at the Museo del Prado and Curator of the show.

Educational program

In addition to the normal visits organized all-year-round at the foundation, in 2012, and within the framework of the Murillo exhibition, other activities, like visit-workshops and family visits, were organized. The latter were on Saturday mornings and entailed a walk through a selection of the temporary exhibition and other works from the Centro Velázquez, ending with a family activity at the artistic workshop.

Baroque Library

The Baroque Library is the result of more than three decades of initiatives undertaken by the Focus-Abengoa Foundation with Baroque as the central theme in its multiple artistic, heritage, literary, historic facets, etc., as the driving force.

Since 2011, the Library has been included into the Collective Catalogue of Red Idea (Network of Documentation Centres and Specialized Libraries of Andalusia) controlled by the Cultural Attaché of the Andalusia Autonomy.

The Library is currently organized into various backgrounds:

• General background
• Background on Seville
• Baroque Library of the Centro Velázquez
• Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez Legacy Endowment

International painting Award

The first prize of 24,000 € of the XXIX edition of the Painting Prize Award held in 2012 was awarded to Juan Luis Jardí Baraja for his piece titled El Círculo, while Silvia Cosío and Felipe Ortega-Regalado both received the consolation prize of 6,000 € each for the pieces titled Domesticación (Domestication) and Oda (Ode) respectively.