The Buades Gallery: A Tube of Oil Paint Open to the World Mercedes Buades and Her Support for Spanish Conceptualism, 1973–1978

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The text is accurate, well-organized, and explains and accurately describes a very specific period in the history of the Spanish art market. While there is some international theoretical framing (especially via Castelnuovo, Bourdieu and Lippard), the empirical and historical content is heavily localized, focused mainly on Spanish sources, and there’s limited engagement with broader international scholarship on conceptual art or gallery systems globally. It could be improved by adding key international references to ground the discussion in broader academic debates.

Also, some formal issues have been found:

• Typos and written errors on line 43 (give), 62 (drew), 384 (rom), 440 (achived), 444. We suggest a thorough review of the text
• Repetition of phrases like "as we have seen", "in this regard", and "ultimately" could be reduced for conciseness.
• Some long sentences (especially theoretical paragraphs) could be split for clarity without losing nuance.

Author Response

REVIEWER 1

COMMENT 1: the empirical and historical content is heavily localized, focused mainly on Spanish sources, and there’s limited engagement with broader international scholarship on conceptual art or gallery systems globally. It could be improved by adding key international references to ground the discussion in broader academic debates.

RESPONSE 1: I completely agree with this observation. The reason a broader review beyond Spain was not initially conducted is, essentially, due to exceeding the recommended length of the paper. However, in light of this comment and the evident need to address the issue, bibliographic references and reflections on the commercialization of conceptual art in the United States and Germany have been added, focusing on the figures of Seth Seigelaub and Konrad Fischer, respectively.

Changes made can be found from line 308 to 364.

At the international level it is pertinent to highlight certain galleries that, since the 1960s, played a decisive role in the consolidation and dissemination of conceptual art. This idea of conceptualism and its relationship with the art market helps to contextualize the relevance of studying the Buades Gallery and the influence of its gallerist, Mercedes Buades. As will be demonstrated throughout this article, the gallery not only served as a platform for the exhibition of new artistic practices but also played a crucial role in fostering essential relational networks within the Spanish art scenario, as also happened in the two examples detailed below. While similar dynamics can be observed internationally, the focus here remains on the specific impact within the Spanish context, though it is important to briefly acknowledge these broader parallel phenomena.

An iconic example is the Konrad Fischer Gallery, founded in 1967 in Düsseldorf. Directed by the gallerist who bears his own name, and with the key support from his wife, Dorothee Fischer, the gallery is widely recognized as one of the most influential in the European and international context, particularly regarding the professionalization of conceptual art. From the beginning, Fischer’s project was conceived not merely as a commercial enterprise but as a space for visibility, legitimization, and experimentation for contemporary artists operating on the margins of the German art system. Under this framework, practices focused on process rather than object were promoted, creating an ideal environment for the consolidation of figures such as Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, and Bruce Nauman, among others. The gallery ultimately became a fundamental node in the axis between Düsseldorf and New York, thus configuring networks of exchange and circulation that enhanced the internationalization of conceptual art (MACBA 2010, p. 8).

Likewise, Konrad Fischer spearheaded an initiative of great relevance in the European context of experimental art circulation: the Prospect project (1968–1976). This series of exhibitions, held annually for eight years, functioned as an alternative fair in critical response to the traditional mechanisms of the artistic stablishment, particularly the Kunstmarkt of Cologne (1967) (a direct precursor of the Art Cologne fair). Prospect facilitated dialogue among international galleries—in the Spanish case, the gallery Seiquer participated in the 1969 edition—and made visible emerging practices that challenged the conventions established by the system (MACBA 2010, p. 47).

Simultaneously, in the United States, the New York scene had another essential figure in the institutionalization and professionalization of conceptual art: the dealer Seth Siegelaub. Between 1964 and 1966, through his gallery, and later between 1968 and 1971 via a series of independent initiatives, Siegelaub articulated a network of agents that connected the North American and European contexts. In this sense, Siegelaub organized a total of 21 exhibitions involving key artists and agents of Anglo-Saxon conceptualism, such as Lawrence Weiner and Joseph Kosuth. Many of these projects assigned a central role to the catalogue as a mediation tool with agency per se, an agenct similar as the one pointed out by Antoine Hennion in his studies on artistic mediation (Hennion 2017).

Siegelaub also stood out for experimenting with alternative models of production and distribution. One example of this practice was the publication of Xerox Book (1968), a low-cost, offset-printed edition featuring contributions by Carl Andre, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, and Lawrence Weiner, in which each artist had a page as an autonomous space for creation. This publication later became the core of an exhibition, the January Show (1969), in which the catalogue not only documented but also constituted the conceptual axis of the project, openly critiquing traditional institutional exhibition formats (MoMA 2013).

Finally, the importance of the contractual agreement developed by Siegelaub together with lawyer Robert Projansky must be mentioned: The Artist’s Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement (1971). This document stipulated the rights and obligations of artists regarding the sale, exhibition, reproduction, and circulation of their works and introduced a clause recognizing the artist’s entitlement to 15% of profits in the case of resale. Although it was not widely adopted (partly due to resistance from the market and collectors to granting this percentage in cases of resale), it constituted a fundamental precedent in the professionalization of emerging art and in the defense of artists’ rights against the dominant institutional system (íbid.).

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Konrad Fischer Gallery and Seth Siegelaub Gallery are the examples previously discussed to illustrate the influence of leading galleries in establishing a role model followed worldwide.

 

COMMENT 2:

Also, some formal issues have been found:

• Typos and written errors on line 43 (give), 62 (drew), 384 (rom), 440 (achived), 444. We suggest a thorough review of the text
• Repetition of phrases like "as we have seen", "in this regard", and "ultimately" could be reduced for conciseness.
• Some long sentences (especially theoretical paragraphs) could be split for clarity without losing nuance.

RESPONSE 2: Thank you for the comment, I totally agree. A second stylistic revision of the entire text has been carried out to correct these repetitions. Typographical errors have also been corrected.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I recommend approving the article with revisions. It's a valuable piece of work, in which the author argues that the gallery was more than a commercial space: it was a point of symbolic and political articulation for the artistic field, acting as a space for the professionalization, legitimacy and circulation of experimental art in a country with a precarious museum infrastructure.

However, I would like to make a few comments to enrich the discussion: The article has a solid theoretical foundation, anchored mainly in Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of art and Enrico Castelnuovo's social history of art, but there is a tendency to romanticize or idealize the figure of Mercedes Buades. The constructed narrative rightly highlights her role as a pioneering woman and as an agent of symbolic articulation in an artistic field dominated by men. However, it lacks a more critical problematization of her contradictions as an operator within a capitalist market system - a system that the conceptual movement itself, at its inception, sought to challenge or subvert. Although the text does acknowledge that Buades worked in a scenario governed by neoliberal logics and that his gallery was a space for mediation between art and the market, this tension is not explored in depth. It would be relevant, for example, to examine the extent to which Buades' work contributed to the commodification of conceptual art, which was originally intended to escape the fetishism of the work and the gallery system.

In relation to the theories of the sociology of art (Pierre Bourdieu) and the social history of art (Enrico Castelnuovo), which help with the idea that gallerists, especially women like Buades, act as structuring agents of the artistic field, producers of symbolic capital and promoters of networks of legitimacy on the margins of state institutions. I also think it's appropriate to use a more recent bibliography with a more critical approach to the crystallization of certain canons, such as Bourdieu. For example, Antoine Hennion proposes a pragmatic approach to cultural mediation that shifts the focus from the work of art as a static object to the processes and practices that constitute it as such. In his theory, artistic value is not an essence, but an effect produced in mediation networks made up of human and non-human agents - curators, critics, spaces, catalogs, exhibition devices, listening or viewing practices. Applying this approach to the work of Galeria Buades would allow us to understand how Mercedes Buades not only “discovered” or “promoted” conceptual artists, but also actively participated in the performative construction of their value and reception. Rather than an isolated heroine who resisted the market, Buades could be thought of as a mediator engaged in a complex network of cultural, aesthetic, and economic practices, where the meaning and value of works were constantly (re)negotiated. Tia DeNora's perspective is also very relevant in this regard, or Angela MacRobbie's perspective was very relevant here.

On line 128, there is a small spacing error.

There are many references, which sometimes hinder the flow of the reading and give the impression of a lack of material.

The conclusion could be more succinct.

Author Response

REVIEWER 2

COMMENT 1

The article has a solid theoretical foundation, anchored mainly in Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of art and Enrico Castelnuovo's social history of art, but there is a tendency to romanticize or idealize the figure of Mercedes Buades. The constructed narrative rightly highlights her role as a pioneering woman and as an agent of symbolic articulation in an artistic field dominated by men. However, it lacks a more critical problematization of her contradictions as an operator within a capitalist market system - a system that the conceptual movement itself, at its inception, sought to challenge or subvert. Although the text does acknowledge that Buades worked in a scenario governed by neoliberal logics and that his gallery was a space for mediation between art and the market, this tension is not explored in depth. It would be relevant, for example, to examine the extent to which Buades' work contributed to the commodification of conceptual art, which was originally intended to escape the fetishism of the work and the gallery system.

RESPONSE 1

Thank you very much for your appreciation and for valuing the theoretical foundation developed for this essay. Throughout the text, in order not to focus this interesting observation on a specific point, I have chosen to incorporate reflections aimed at deconstructing a romanticised image of Mercedes Buades, as well as encouraging a consideration of her figure through the lens of problematisation, with a particularly focus in relation to the commodification of the art market (in this new minnor correction, by engaging with her work on multiples in connection with conceptualism). These additions can be found in:

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This first-person statement by Buades reveals a particularly relevant issue when seeking to avoid the glorification of her figure: the tension between the market and the artwork remained evident. Although an artist’s integration into the gallery’s programme was a sine qua non condition, the gallery still functioned as a space for legitimising the art market.

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while this recognition honours the figure of the gallerist, it is interesting to observe how the system, sooner or later, ends up absorbing those very discourses that once aimed to subvert it

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However, this distance did not prevent the gallery from becoming a vehicle for the institutionalisation and market integration of conceptual practices. Acting as a mediator between artists, the public, and collectors, the gallery embodied the broader tension between cultural innovation and its reliance on systems of distribution and legitimisation. In doing so, it paradoxically subverted conceptual discourse by serving as an exhibition platform—always viewed through a commercial lens.

With this essay, we further explore our hypothesis regarding the tensions present in gallery spaces, including those that at one time shared ideals aligned with the underground art. Thus, galleries also failed to escape the paradoxes of the capitalist system. The case of Buades allows us to observe that, although they functioned as spaces of resistance, they continued to promote the art market and benefit from the novelty factor, thereby also becoming instruments of commodification.

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The ideas and findings that emerge from our research allow us to delve into the notion that, although the Buades Gallery was undoubtedly a visionary initiative exhibiting certain manifestations of conceptual art, it was also immersed in a fundamental contra-diction: its alignment with market trends driven by an emerging bourgeoisie carried the clear risk of neutralizing the critical impulses that such art sought to counteract. As we have seen —and as we will examine in greater depth— the gallery did not escape the logic of consolidating an established system, one whose institutionalization and com-modification ultimately absorb practices that were originally intended to subvert it.

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this allows us to observe how the gallery was oriented towards obtaining economic capital while seeking to help emerging art (however, the commercial aspect prevailed above all else).

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Building on the ideas that have emerged from our analysis, it is crucial to understand that this “club of contemporary art gallerists” should not be interpreted through a sanitized or trivialized lens of the gallerist figure, but quite the opposite: these agents embodied the very tension between the alternative and the institutional. By supporting conceptual art, gallerists were —whether consciously or not— also participating in its commodification, a process that would ultimately dilute its critical potential and contribute to the gradual trivialization and disappearance of conceptualism. Nevertheless, the dilemma remains: without this commodification, many of these practices might not have survived to the present day. It is precisely here that the interest in focusing on the figure of Mercedes Buades lies. Without the opportunities and commitment she offered to certain conceptual artists (though not to the entire movement) many significant artistic careers would not have properly accessed the circles of legitimisation. However, that very access entailed the inevitable dilution of their radicalism. The conclusion is clear: one cannot escape the system.

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Once again, we observe the dilemmas and contradictions of Buades operating within a capitalist context as she took the first steps in commercialising video art: an art form that initially problematised such action.

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As we can see, the market found in these galleries, driven not only by a desire for modernisation but also by the pursuit of an emerging class of collectors drawn to novelty, a fertile ground for sell the material resources of conceptual art and adapting them to its capitalistic logic. By promoting works in the form of multiples, Mercedes Buades disco-vered an effective means of facilitating the commodification of conceptualism. This created a clear dichotomy. On the one hand, the gallery dealt with pieces often regarded as low-cost, which enabled a modest but tangible form of minor collecting. On the other hand, this strategy supported the development of new modes of production and disse-mination that, although they weakened the political edge of conceptualism, also helped prevent it from fading away in a context with little institutional support.

 

COMMENT 2

In relation to the theories of the sociology of art (Pierre Bourdieu) and the social history of art (Enrico Castelnuovo), which help with the idea that gallerists, especially women like Buades, act as structuring agents of the artistic field, producers of symbolic capital and promoters of networks of legitimacy on the margins of state institutions. I also think it's appropriate to use a more recent bibliography with a more critical approach to the crystallization of certain canons, such as Bourdieu. For example, Antoine Hennion proposes a pragmatic approach to cultural mediation that shifts the focus from the work of art as a static object to the processes and practices that constitute it as such. In his theory, artistic value is not an essence, but an effect produced in mediation networks made up of human and non-human agents - curators, critics, spaces, catalogs, exhibition devices, listening or viewing practices. Applying this approach to the work of Galeria Buades would allow us to understand how Mercedes Buades not only “discovered” or “promoted” conceptual artists, but also actively participated in the performative construction of their value and reception. Rather than an isolated heroine who resisted the market, Buades could be thought of as a mediator engaged in a complex network of cultural, aesthetic, and economic practices, where the meaning and value of works were constantly (re)negotiated. Tia DeNora's perspective is also very relevant in this regard, or Angela MacRobbie's perspective was very relevant here.

RESPONSE 2

This comment deserves special thanks. The expansion of the academic debate through contemporary voices allows me to approach a much more robust theoretical foundation, which will be incorporated into my PhD procés. Contributions from two particularly interesting authors, Hennion and McRobbie, have been explored; their perspectives on mediation align well with the theoretical framework prior to the revision. However, in order not to overload the text with theories from sociology (and partly due to its distance from my contribution) Tia DeNora’s perspective has not been included.

New contributions can be found from line 136 to line 164:

If we focus in particular on the case of mediation, we become aware of the need to incorporate certain voices from more recent studies. Through the thought of Antoine Hennion—who has developed a sociology of art based in music—we understand this network of structural consolidations through a pragmatic approach: the mediation. These networks are built through relational processes, and it is within them that the value of art emerges, in a system of agents capable of mediating: curators, exhibition critics, or even non-human agents with their own agency—such as catalogues—constitute key elements of a network that is not only constructed, but must also be mediated in order to shape the value of art (conceptual art, in our case) (Hennion 2017, p. 2).

Hennion is a prominent figure in the field of sociology for his development of a pragmatic approach to mediation, in which mediation ceases to be a mere intermediary between object and subject and becomes constitutive of the artistic experience: it not only transmits, but transforms. The artistic experience, then, does not exist as a fixed entity, but is constructed through networks of mediation in which spatial context plays a fundamental role (ibid., p. 2)—a context which, in our case, was shaped within the walls of Buades Gallery. Hennion argues that music is an “object made of mediation that requires restitution through the performer’s interpretation and the amateur’s activity” (ibid., p. 2). The parallels with music are worth recovering, especially given that, as Hennion himself states, they are “ideas that apply equally to music as to technical projects” (ibid., p. 4). From this perspective, objects can be understood as provisional outcomes of a web of interrelated elements, which in turn produce further objects “without any stable distinction between medium and content, networks and actors, products and users” (ibid., p. 4). This aligns with the notion of dematerialisation and the early utopian premises of conceptualism.

From his logic of mediation—which stems from an immaterial conception particularly useful in this context—Hennion suggests understanding art as a heterogeneous amalgam of “resistances and accumulated effects” (ibid., p. 6), resisting the tendency to see it merely as a social artefact. Mediation, ultimately, is a web of associative threads that cannot be reduced to social interpretations or to an invisible logic (ibid., p. 6). It involves rejecting the notion of the artwork as a totem, as a simple vehicle for cultural codes projected by human actors.

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Finally, with the aim of enriching our academic discussion through contributions and readings connected to the current discourse, Angela McRobbie’s concept of the creative dispositive becomes relevant, especially after having demonstrated the importance of the gallery context as a site of mediation and a stage for the legitimisation of the artistic narrative. Reviewed by Lisa Henderson in the International Journal of Communication, this term—originating in McRobbie’s thought—is useful for describing a network of policies, personal and institutional practices (in our case, those emerging from the gallery), as-pirations, worldviews, physical dispositions and affects that together shape a set of norms. It is through these norms that the gallery, the creative dispositif, articulated either from within the art system encourages emerging artists to enter into the cultural industry (Henderson 2016, p. 4168).

In the case of Buades Gallery, the parameters defined by McRobbie as constitutive of this creative dispositif are clearly evident when analysing the trajectory of a gallerist such as Mercedes Buades. The gallery’s policies were closely entwined with both its pro-gramming and the core philosophy of the project: they were policies oriented towards working with emerging artists whose experimental practices often struggled to find a place within other galleries in the Spanish art scene of the 1970s (although they ultimately did). This orientation enabled Mercedes Buades, in the early stages of the gallery’s life, to realise her aspiration of giving space to young, and often conceptual, art proposals—many influenced by the figure of Juan Manuel Bonet. Thus, becoming a space not only for development but also—importantly—for commercialisation, the gallery eventually functioned as a creative dispositif in which capitalist logics generated a labour force that professionalised conceptual art. This force was at once enthusiastic and precarious due to the synergy between art and the market. From an external perspective, this operational model was key in allowing certain artists within the Madrid scene to recognise the gal-lery’s dispositif as a space of professionalisation, legitimisation, exhibition, and dissem-ination. As such, while many of these creators were resistant to the mercantile logics of the art world, they could not remain unaffected by the dynamics of the establishment (ibid.).

 

COMMENT 3

On line 128, there is a small spacing error.

RESPONSE 3

Already corrected. Thank you so much.

 

COMMENT 4

The conclusion could be more succinct.

RESPONSE 4

Regarding the conclusion, I appreciate this correction. In light of the insightful comments, I have chones to rewrite the entire conclusion, placing greater emphasis on the de-romanticisation of Buades’s figure and making the conclusion more concise and succint.

Changes from line 943 to 998:

This analysis of the Buades Gallery, centered on the key role of its director, Mercedes Buades, has allowed us to draw a series of conclusions which —though significant— are not definitive regarding the synergies between Spanish conceptualism and the art market. This open-ended reflection —invoking the metaphorical oil tube that gives this article its title— invites further exploration of the hypotheses proposed in the doctoral thesis from which this essay originates.

Throughout this study, several key factors have been identified to better understand the gallery's role within the context of conceptual art. Mercedes Buades, who was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts by the Spanish Ministry of Culture in 2002, played a crucial role not only in the development and professionalisation of conceptualism but also in legitimising the artistic field in a Spain undergoing profound political and cultural transformation after and during the Franco regime.

To meet its objectives, this research focused on the period between 1973 and 1978, when conceptual art required legitimisation within the Spanish gallery system. This period underscores the scarcity of exhibition infrastructure at the end of the dictatorship, a gap that fostered the emergence of new networks in which galleries played a central role in showcasing emerging practices. Within this framework, the Buades Gallery—alongside others projects that appeared during the 1970s "gallery boom"—became a crucial space for articulating an ecosystem for contemporary art. This study highlights the importance of galleries and their gallerists, offering a new dimension to debates on the professionalisation, legitimisation, and dissemination of conceptualism in Spain. It confirms the initial hypotheses by positioning Mercedes Buades as a relevant figure in the integration of emerging art into the system, especially in the Madrid art scene, through the perspectives of art sociology and social art history.

Although the Buades Gallery serves as a paradigmatic example of the consolidation of the female figure in Madrid’s art scene and the promotion of emerging art, it also worked as a commercial enterprise. This dual identity was crucial in adapting conceptual art to market dynamics, a central point of this conclusion. Artists such as Nacho Criado, Alberto Corazón, Eulàlia, and members of ZAJ (Esther Ferrer, Juan Hidalgo, Walter Marchetti), despite their utopian approaches to art-making and resistance to commercialisation, found in Buades a platform for their projects. This adaptation included strategies like the production of multiples to facilitate circulation and sales. Thus, the gallery became essential to the professionalisation of Madrid’s conceptualism—a movement marked not only by dematerialisation but also by strong political engagement during Spain’s democratic transition.

Buades struck a balance between artistic experimentation and economic viability —a strategy particularly evident in its later support of painting in the 1980s. Thanks to this vision and sustained support of conceptual (and non conceptual) artists, Mercedes Buades built a network of collaborations extending beyond the gallery into emerging public institutions. In cooperation with the Board of Artistic Heritage, Archives, and Museums of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, she promoted exhibitions by artists such as Nacho Criado, expanding the presence of conceptual art in public spaces. This network, including galleries like G in Barcelona, also established a circulation axis between Madrid and Barcelona at a time when, according to art historiography, the relationship between conceptualism and galleries had begun to weaken—especially after 1975.

Finally, Buades’ work was crucial in legitimising experimental art within the market system, contributing to the consolidation of Spain’s artistic field amid social and cultural change. While future studies might examine the gallery’s later turn toward painting and the decline of conceptualism in the late 1980s, it is worth noting that Buades gradually reduced its commitment to experimental practices, mirroring broader institutional shifts. Painting —metaphorically captured in the gallery’s logo by Alberto Corazón as an oil tube open to the world— eventually supplanted conceptualism, which, once “squeezed dry,” gave way to a market increasingly focused on the artwork as commodity. Thus, the very gallery that had championed conceptualism in the 1970s became both witness to and agent of its decline amid shifting market forces.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx