The Danger of Beauty

The Danger of Beauty

1 October 2026 — 29 October 2026

Colnaghi Madrid is pleased to announce its forthcoming exhibition The Danger of Beauty, in collaboration with and curated by Luis Berenguer which explores the shifting meanings and enduring influence of beauty across historic and contemporary art.

Bringing contemporary works by Hamish Pearch, Cece Philips and Liu Bin into dialogue with paintings by El Greco, the Circle of Francisco de Zurbarán, Juan van der Hamen and Juan de Arellano, the exhibition considers beauty as a historically contingent idea, shaped by religious belief, social convention and structures of authority.

Across European art, beauty has served as an expression of divine perfection, an outward sign of virtue and status, and a means through which material abundance might be both celebrated and possessed. Yet such images have always carried an awareness of impermanence: flowers wilt, food decays, bodies age and objects pass from one owner to another. The exhibition traces the survival and transformation of these concerns in contemporary practice, examining the relationships between beauty, desire, ownership and display.

Pearch’s sculptural assemblages test the boundaries between the organic and the manufactured, placing materials in states of apparent instability, growth or deterioration. Philips draws upon portraiture, domestic painting, archival sources and memory to explore the politics of looking, constructing interiors in which intimacy, privacy and power remain unsettled. Liu Bin’s paintings similarly complicate the seductive qualities of the image, revealing beauty as a site of ambiguity rather than certainty.

Installation Views

The Danger of Beauty
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The Danger of Beauty
The Danger of Beauty
The Danger of Beauty
The Danger of Beauty

Works in the Exhibition

Colnaghi

Isabel II niña
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VICENTE LÓPEZ PORTAÑA

Isabel II niña

c. 1835-1837
Portrait of the Duchess of Montpensier
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JOAQUIN DOMINGUEZ BECQUER

Portrait of the Duchess of Montpensier

1853
Portrait of Antonia Alcoba Mateos, Marchioness of Casa Gaviria
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VICENTE LÓPEZ PORTAÑA

Portrait of Antonia Alcoba Mateos, Marchioness of Casa Gaviria

1845
Saint Agnes
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CIRCLE OF FRANCISCO DE ZURBARÁN

Saint Agnes
Mirror in the shape of an eagle
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SPANISH SCHOOL

Mirror in the shape of an eagle

17th century
Portrait of Manuel Gaviria y Alcoba, Count of Buena Esperanza, later Marquess of Casa Gaviria
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VICENTE LÓPEZ PORTAÑA

Portrait of Manuel Gaviria y Alcoba, Count of Buena Esperanza, later Marquess of Casa Gaviria

1840
Landscape with Birds.
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MELCHIOR D'HONDECOETER

Landscape with Birds.

c. 1670-80
Basket of plums and slice of melon
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JUAN DE ZURBARÁN

Basket of plums and slice of melon

1640-1650
Ruins with Arab figures (a pair)
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EUGENIO LUCAS VELÁZQUEZ

Ruins with Arab figures (a pair)

1848
Ruins with Arab figures (a pair)
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EUGENIO LUCAS VELÁZQUEZ

Ruins with Arab figures (a pair)

1848
Portrait of Philip V, King of Spain (1683-1746)
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MIGUEL JACINTO MELÉNDEZ

Portrait of Philip V, King of Spain (1683-1746)
The Apostle James and his Disciples Worshipping Our Lady of the Pillar
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FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES

The Apostle James and his Disciples Worshipping Our Lady of the Pillar

c. 1775-1780

Still life with fruits and vegetables
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AGUSTÍN LOGÓN

Still life with fruits and vegetables

ca. 1640
Still life with pears
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JUAN VAN DER HAMEN

Still life with pears

c. 1622
Still Life with Apples, Walnut, Grapes and Acorns
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JUAN DE ESPINOSA

Still Life with Apples, Walnut, Grapes and Acorns

c. 1646
Little Elena at her Desk
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JOAQUÍN SOROLLA Y BASTIDA

Little Elena at her Desk

1898
Bouquet of Flowers in a Conch
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JUAN DE ARELLANO

Bouquet of Flowers in a Conch

1644
Basket of Flowers
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JUAN DE ARELLANO

Basket of Flowers

c. 1670

Liu Bin

The Weeping Cascade​
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LIU BIN

The Weeping Cascade​

2026
Portal of the Soft Banquet
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LIU BIN

Portal of the Soft Banquet

2026
Moonlit Shell​
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LIU BIN

Moonlit Shell​

2026
Halo Over the Soft Kingdom​
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LIU BIN

Halo Over the Soft Kingdom​

2026
Ascent Through the Pink Canopy​
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LIU BIN

Ascent Through the Pink Canopy​

2026

Hamish Pearch

Strongly affect the subjective experience of the passage of time
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HAMISH PEARCH

Strongly affect the subjective experience of the passage of time

2026
If you kling to me I’ll klong to you
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HAMISH PEARCH

If you kling to me I’ll klong to you

2026
All the trees in the world will fall sooner or later
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HAMISH PEARCH

All the trees in the world will fall sooner or later

2022
4000 weeks soup
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HAMISH PEARCH

4000 weeks soup

2022
15:50
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HAMISH PEARCH

15:50

2024

Cece Philips

Intimate Immensity III
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CECE PHILIPS

Intimate Immensity III

2026
Intimate Immensity II
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CECE PHILIPS

Intimate Immensity II

2026
Intimate Immensity I
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CECE PHILIPS

Intimate Immensity I

2026
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Press Release

The Danger of Beauty — Press Release
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