PARIS.- In spring 2026, the Jacquemart-André Museum, in collaboration with the Hispanic Society of America (New York), showcases Hispanic Baroque art. This exhibition is part of the museum’s ongoing programme dedicated to 17th-century masters and masterpieces, following Caravaggio (2018), Artemisia Gentileschi (2025), Georges de La Tour (2025) and the Borghese collection (2024). It offers the public the opportunity to admire some forty works from the prestigious American institution, brought together in France for the first time, including paintings by the great masters of the Spanish Golden Age such as Velázquez, El Greco and Zurbarán.

THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Founded in 1904 by the American scholar and patron Archer Milton Huntington (1870–1955), the Hispanic Society of America is the oldest and most important museum institution dedicated to the study and promotion of the arts and cultures of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking world outside the Iberian Peninsula. Driven by a deep passion for Spain and its artistic and literary expressions, Huntington built up a remarkable collection of paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, archaeological artefacts and art objects during his studies and travels, which he housed in a specially designed setting in northwest Manhattan, New York (Audubon Terrace). Intended, in Huntington’s own words (1898), as a place capable of “condensing the soul of Spain through works of the hand and the mind”, the Hispanic Society of America now houses more than 750,000 pieces, from antiquity to the contemporary era, covering more than thirty-five countries and a wide variety of techniques and media.

In 2019, the Hispanic Society began renovating its historic buildings under the architectural direction of Annabelle Selldorf. While the first phase was completed in 2023, marking the museum’s reopening, the second phase, which includes new rooms for old paintings, is scheduled to open in autumn 2027. It is in this context that the institution is entrusting the Jacquemart-André Museum with a selection of its masterpieces for an exhibition dedicated to the Spanish Golden Age.

THE SPANISH GOLDEN AGE

Spanning from the early 16th to the late 17th century, the Golden Age represents to the economic, artistic and literary heyday of the Spanish Habsburg monarchy (1516–1700). With a vast colonial empire, political and cultural influence spanning accross much of Europe and extending as far as the Americas and Asia (the Philippines), the Kingdom of Spain experienced a period of extraordinary artistic vitality — one that developed in a context marked by complex economic and cultural exchanges.
This period was marked by successive reigns of sovereigns whose royal courts acted as patrons and sponsors of the greatest artists. Between the late Renaissance and the full flowering of the Baroque, Spanish artistic production distinguished itself by its expressive intensity, profound spirituality and taste for the exaltation of form.

THE HISPANIC BAROQUE

At the crossroads of Italian and Flemish influences, but also nourished by discoveries and exchanges from the newly conquered American territories, Spanish art of the Golden Age is notable for its remarkable aesthetic and thematic richness. While this period constitutes one of the most unique chapters in Western art history, it remains proportionally under-represented in French collections. Artists from all over Europe, such as El Greco (1541-1614) and Antonio Moro (c. 1520-c. 1577), contributed to the renewal of Spanish painting, infusing it with both innovation and vitality. Spain thus became a fertile ground for the Baroque style to flourish. This term, derived from the Portuguese barroco, originally referred to the irregular shape of a pearl and, in art, characterizes opulent, theatrical and triumphant forms aimed at seducing the senses. Francisco de Zurbarán, Juan Carreño de Miranda, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Matteo Cerezo are among the masters of this period.

Spanish painting excelled especially in the genres of portraiture and religious themes. These religious subjects, imbued with the spirit of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, glorified history, devotion and sacred dogmas in a pictorial expression that was both visually eloquent and deeply spiritual. Spanish portraiture reached its peak with Velázquez, who revitalized old formulas and revolutionized the genre. His Portrait of a Little Girl (c. 1638- 1642), featured in the exhibition, perfectly illustrates this ability to give his models a striking presence. A work by John Singer Sargent provides a counterpoint, testifying to the lasting influence of the man Manet had christened “the painter’s painter”.

THE HISPANIC WORLD BEYOND EUROPE

The exhibition also includes major works by artists from the 17th and 18th centuries who were active in or originated from Latin America. Heirs to the great Spanish pictorial tradition introduced after the colonization of the “New World”, these painters combined Western influences with local techniques and traditions. This fusion gave rise to a unique and remarkable body of work—still very rarely seen in French museums—which the exhibition will offer a valuable presentation of.