The art of Sa Nostra is raffled in charity auctions

CiutadellaThe artistic legacy of the former Sa Nostra Social and Cultural Work is now in more hands than ever. Many of the creations made by artists from the Balearic Islands between the late 20th and early 21st centuries were stored after the Balearic savings bank ended its 130-year history. And now, 14 years after the closure of Sa Nostra's offices, some of the funds, transferred with the subsequent merger between CaixaBank and Bankia, are being raffled off in charity auctions.

Sources from the Caixa explain that 301 works have already been auctioned for this purpose. In Menorca, three have been organized in just one year, driven by the Foundation for People with Disabilities and Caritas. The last one promoted by the social entity of the Church took place at the beginning of this April in the art space Xec Coll in Ciutadella and managed to raise more than 3,300 euros. Last year, Can Albertí also collaborated, donating the rooms of its boutique hotel in Maó for the exhibition.

Art, says Càritas, “has the power to transform, to move, and to unite wills around a noble cause, a solidary purpose.” Thus, it sells its auctions as “an opportunity to acquire unique pieces and, at the same time, to support the social projects” that it develops in Menorca.

Among the originals that have been raffled are the so-called “enameled metal” by Pablo Ruiz Picasso, a graphic work by Rafel Joan, a watercolor by Pere Capellà, paintings by Alfred Hutchison and Lindsay Mullen, drawings by Carmen Herrero and the writer Pau Faner, works by Mela Ferrer and Miquel Capó, photos by Tomàs Montserrat from Llucmajor (attributed in the catalog to an “unknown author”) and some prints by Cardinal Despuig and the symbolist painter Odilon Redon, among others. Their starting price ranged between 10 and 500 euros, although they were finally awarded for more money. The best valued was a canvas by Tomeu Coll, sold for 1,250 euros.

Works ‘saved’

Only the 52 works from CaixaBank's pictorial collection remain outside these beneficial auctions, which, once the entire catalog was sorted, were considered to have more value, and therefore the Consell de Mallorca protected them and they were transferred to the Museu de Mallorca. Paintings by renowned authors such as Joaquim Mir, Santiago Rusiñol, Llorenç Cerdà, and Pilar Montaner, the first woman to manage to exhibit her originals in the museum, were transferred there.

The previous government of the Consell de Menorca also showed interest in 2021 in recovering the works that had won the prestigious Sant Antoni painting prize that Sa Nostra organized between 1991 and 2007 to support emerging Menorcan artists. The works, owned by Bankia, were ceded to the Consell de Menorca, which was thus able to bring to light the originals that, for years, had been forgotten in a warehouse and organized two related exhibitions. Among these works 'saved' from the drawer are those made by Marc Jesús, Zulema Bagur, Pacífic Camps, Francesc Florit Nin, and Llorenç Pons. The others have been sold.

The Menorcan Maties Quetglas, who in his day also ceded works to the Sa Nostra galleries, where he exhibited regularly every five years, finds it “unreasonable that institutions, instead of ceding the originals to museum organizations, put them up for auction. I don’t quite understand it”.

Heritage converted into tourist promotion

Juan Elorduy, who was the cultural manager of Sa Nostra in Menorca, considers it “shameful” that the works that each artist exhibiting in their halls ceded to the entity end up being raffled off in an auction, even if it is a charity auction. “Most of these works were of little value, but they constituted a heritage that should have been part of a collection. That is what I promised the authors. However, how can we create heritage if we squander all that we have been creating all at once?”, he asks.

Elorduy believes that, “in essence, the problem lies in the fact that no institution in Menorca is interested in our contemporary artistic heritage”. In this regard, he even questions whether art is now to be promoted by the Foment del Turisme, with initiatives like the Opening Art launched by the island council. “Heritage is no longer of interest in itself, but only if it becomes a tourist attraction”, he complains.

The Fundació Foment del Turisme de Menorca has scheduled multiple activities over 19 days this April in art galleries and museums with the aim of trying to advance the season a little. The Opening Menorca 2026 has been the event most promoted by the island's political delegations, who have travelled to the most important tourist fairs, from Madrid to London and Berlin, with the idea of “placing the island in the international artistic imaginary”.

The opportunity is to take advantage of the trend opened up by the pandemic by international galleries established in Menorca, such as Cayón, Albarran Bourdais, Nicola Quadri, Etesian and Hauser & Wirth, to “decidedly incorporate contemporary art into the tourism narrative. Galleries, museums and crafts – says Foment – are also an essential part of the visitor and resident experience”.

The Administration thus echoes the great economic movement generated by the international art galleries that have opened branches in Menorca in recent years. A proliferation that, says the CEO of Immobiliària Bonnín Sansó, José Pons, “has placed Menorca at the cultural epicenter, in an international market where it did not exist before”. It has consolidated it as “an attractive and tranquil destination, which maintains its essence and, at the same time, hosts events”. Quite an “idyll” that has also reactivated property purchases.

“No one will dare to value the results of the Opening”, says Juan Elorduy. “The gallery owners are happy and those from Foment, too, because this way they can justify their commitment to de-seasonality” and what they have invested from their budgets in the initiative.

Everyone makes a profit from it, but no one bothers to prioritize art, nor to preserve works that were supposed to be part of a collection, now fragmented. A project that has gone awry, like that of the old savings bank absorbed by banking entities and the financial world.