The Prado Museum Expansion

From 2001 to 2007, the world-renowned Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, underwent an ambitious expansion project that reorganized the museum’s spatial design and significantly increased the available exhibition space. Coinciding with the completion of this large construction project was a series of celebrations surrounding the 2010 bicentenary of South American independence movements, a clear reminder of the complicated relationship between Spain and its former colonies in Latin America. Inspired by this significant historical moment and with an eye to diversifying its predominantly Spanish-centered permanent collection, the Prado Museum decides to host a competition for a new gallery of Latin American art.

The game opens in 2010 as the curators set into motion a series of negotiation sessions to help them decide which artworks to choose for the new gallery. The curators must think carefully about how best to craft their joint vision for this gallery. Which paintings are essential to understand contemporary Latin American art? How will they create a coherent vision for the new museum space? Who is the public for this new exhibit? What will they expect to see? What geographical, historical, political, and artistic factors must the curators take into account when selecting their pieces?

The Prado Museum administration has already made a preliminary selection of paintings from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. The artists and the art dealers who hold the rights to these paintings have all flown to Madrid and are staying at the nearby hotel Catalonia Las Cortes. The Prado has also invited an important patron of the arts and a private collector to participate in the selection process as a means of securing financial support for the new gallery. The meetings will take place in the museum itself.

The art dealers’ and living artists’ main objective is to successfully secure a place for their painting in the new gallery at the Prado. To achieve this goal, they will need to be prepared to explain the importance of their paintings to the curators, the patron of the arts, and the private collector. They may also need to negotiate with other players to ensure a favorable outcome. For the living artists who are less well-known than their deceased compatriots, there is a particular sense of urgency, as they must claim their rightful place in the vast world of Latin American art. For the art dealers, securing a place for their artist’s painting at the prestigious Prado Museum would be an enormous professional accomplishment. At the same time, the art dealers must always have their eyes open for new, up-and-coming artists who may be in search of expert representation.