Last week we were talking about the closure of one of the great historic galleries, the Marlborough, which after 78 years in business had contributed to shaping the artistic landscape with some of the most relevant artists of the second half of the 20th century, while at the same time prefiguring what today is the model that megagalleries have developed. The closure of the Barcelona headquarters also means that the city is left without galleries with several locations around the world. A real catastrophe.

It is the law of life. But the problem in Barcelona is that this vital development in which, for very different reasons, many galleries have been closing their doors in recent years, they have not been replaced by galleries of the same level. That is to say, new projects have been appearing, some of them with a lot of personality, even with a future, but at no time do they have either the artistic quality or the business ambition, much less the international relevance of those that have disappeared or that unfortunately they are declining.

All this means that the specific level of the city has fallen in the last two decades. You only have to see our representation in the large international fairs to notice that, in no way, is it what it had been. That is why the appearance of the contemporary gallery that the Mayoral family has recently opened in Consell de Cent, next to the historic one they opened 35 years ago, is so relevant. A new project that includes the work done by its founders and that, with the impetus of the new generation, incorporates an exquisite space designed by architect Jorge Vidal that conceptually surpasses the classic white cube. With clear ideas and a good line-up of artists, they will create an interesting artistic line. And a fact that is not minor, their participation in the most relevant international fairs, such as Art Basel in Basel, Miami and Hong Kong, plus TEFAF in Maastricht, will give them great visibility.

Over the years, every gallery defines its own story that makes it unique, and in this case, based on the work done by the Mayoral team in an inaugural exhibition that is a declaration of intentions, everything points to a brilliant result. , ambitious and that catapults the city and its entire artistic ecosystem to a higher level.