the foundation
Creation of the antonio saura foundation archives
The Saura Estate formed the antonio saura foundation archives to ensure the future of its activities in favour of presenting and making known to a broader public the Saura oeuvre, as well as maintaining the archives and a significant body of the artist’s works as both a coherent whole and a freely accessible resource.
The foundation was created in Geneva (Switzerland) on 20 March 2006 and registered on 12 April of the same year with the Registry of Foundations, ref. no. 05075/2006, fed. no. CH – 660 – 0904006 – 6.
The Saura Estate gave the foundation the totality of the artist’s archives, an important collection of his works, and a building that is now home to all of the foundation’s assets and activities.
Administration
The foundation, whose headquarters are located in Geneva, chemin de la Pallanterie 11a (CH - 1252 Meinier Geneva), is administered by a board of nine members and overseen by an executive board consisting of three of the administrative board’s members.
Mr Olivier Weber-Caflisch, the artist’s executor, currently heads the foundation.
Activities and aims of the foundation
Since its creation, the foundation has taken over from the Saura Estate all of its activities designed to present and promulgate the artist’s work.
The Saura Estate nevertheless has retained all of the copyrights as well as the moral rights of the artist. The Estate exercises and administers sole power over the artistic property linked to Antonio Saura’s work for the purposes of protecting the name, image, and rights deriving from the person of the artist, as well as everything relating to the defence of the said work and person.
Within this framework, the foundation is authorised to represent the Saura Estate.
The foundation is overseeing publication of the Catalogue raisonné of the artist’s paintings and the Catalogue raisonné of his works on paper and other supports. It also publishes monographs devoted to the work of Antonio Saura.
The foundation’s aims and activities also include:
- keeping together and making accessible to the public the archives as well as a significant body of works by Antonio Saura;
- acquiring and preserving the artist’s original works along with all the projects, models, notes and manuscripts, all the records and documents, property and various objects that are of interest with respect to the knowledge and thought of Antonio Saura and his artistic and literary work, the moral defence of which is guaranteed by the foundation;
- providing for greater visibility of the artistic and literary work, its publication and dissemination;
- publishing the artist’s written and illustrated work;
- placing the photo archives and the works they include at the disposal of the general public and in particular researchers, museum keepers, exhibition curators, publishers, and the press;
- actively working with others to mount both solo exhibitions devoted to the artist and group shows;
- ensuring the curatorship of exhibitions jointly mounted with museums, etc.
Moral rights and authentication
The Saura Estate is the holder of the artist’s moral right, which it exercises independently of the foundation.
Certificates of authenticity are established by the foundation jointly with the Saura Estate.
Collection
Besides the artist’s archives, the foundation boasts a collection of paintings, sculptures, works in mixed media, original illustrated books and multiples, along with an important print collection.
The foundation’s collections cover every aspect of the artist’s body of work.
Part of the foundation’s holdings is regularly on loan to cultural institutions and museums involved in putting together shows.
Works by Antonio Saura filling out its collections have also been acquired by and donated to the foundation.
The venue
