Colnaghi and Jaime Eguiguren, the world’s preeminent expert on viceregal art, presented a major survey of Latin American art from the Viceregal period. Marking the first commercial exhibition of this scale ever to be staged, Discovering Viceregal Latin American Treasures brought together more than 100 paintings, sculptures, textiles, and objects from the 17th to 18th centuries, with select Pre-Columbian and Modern masterpieces, reflecting Colnaghi's commitment to supporting cross-category collecting. The exhibition was on view simultaneously at Colnaghi’s galleries in London and New York, from 2 July through 10 September, 2021. It was also presented online in virtual reality tours starting in July, allowing the public from around the world to examine the works in detail in both locations.
As the Spanish began colonising Latin America in the early 16th century, art became a powerful tool for the Catholic Church. At first, sculptures and paintings were imported from Spain, but from the mid-16th century onwards, the Church set up guilds and workshops to train a local base of indigenous artisans. The Old Master works on view came out of these workshops, which created some of the most important artistic genres in Latin American art.
The exhibition also featured historically significant examples of stone sculptures, reliefs, and objects from the Pre-Columbian period, encompassing the art of indigenous people of North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean created prior to the arrival of the Spanish and providing a sort of precedent for the viceregal works. Likewise, modern and contemporary paintings by Spanish and Latin American artists that were on view extended the timeline forwards to showcase the rich visual culture of Spanish speaking countries today. The exhibition featured works by Brazilian Modernist Alfredo Volpi, Chilean Abstract Expressionist and Surrealist Roberto Matta, and Spanish Surrealist Oscar Dominguez, among other modern masters, many of whom championed their own pre-Hispanic heritage and local cultures through their work. Some studied in Europe and returned to Latin America during the first two decades of the twentieth century, advocating for the creation of a uniquely Latin American art.
"I am delighted to be collaborating with Jaime Eguiguren on this global exhibition, which not only will be the first-ever, large-scale gallery exhibition of viceregal art, but also will be among the largest surveys of Latin American Art from across the ages," said Jorge Coll, Colnaghi’s CEO. "The viceregal focus responds to the growing market interest in the unique and rare works from this era, following a major recent museum exhibition and notable sales achieved in the past year. With these wonderful presentations at our galleries, we are excited to introduce those unfamiliar with the art from this region to something highly original.’’