Almost 400 items.

When it was founded in 1973 by Mercedes Buades and her partner Chiqui Abril, the Madrid-based Galería Buades galvanised the Spanish art scene of the time, comparable to what was undertaken in other galleries, such as Galería Ciento in Barcelona.

From the outset, under the artistic direction of the critic Juan Manuel Bonet, its exhibitions were characterised by eclecticism and a commitment to emerging artists. With notable international scope (it was responsible for the first Andy Warhol exhibition in Madrid), exhibitions by conceptual and abstract artists and exponents of Madrid’s new figurative art were joined by diverse activities performed in the gallery, such as poetry readings, screenings, conferences and presentations.

In addition to producing the distinguished publications in newspaper format that supplemented exhibitions, it also published artist books, multiples and Buades(1984–1987), a magazine overseen by Chiqui Abril and designed by Diego Lara.

Among the almost 400 items brought together in the collection there are originals, multiples, intervened books carried out by artists, mock-ups, correspondence, publications, posters, invitations and printed matter, among others, and materials related to the gallery and the other artistic enterprises of Mercedes Buades and Chiqui Abril (such as Abril y Buades Editores, Hermosilla Gestión Artística y Editorial, and Gran Vía Gestión Artística y Editorial, among others), which attest to the gallery’s connections with artists, such as Alberto Corazón, Diego Lara, Juan Navarro Baldeweg, Nacho Criado, Carlos Franco, Luis Muro, Luis Pérez-Mínguez, Herminio Molero, Manolo Quejido, Carlos Alcolea, and Víctor Aparicio.