To continue the main objective initiated in the 1st UCM Art Collecting Conference: to foster closer ties between the world of collecting and the university sphere, to generate a source of knowledge and promote collecting activity.

The participation of collectors in this 4th UCM Art Collecting Conference is one way to promote and raise awareness of patronage within the university sphere. Likewise, the participation of university professors, artists, gallerists, collectors and various agents of the art market, together with visits to collections/art centres, is a way to generate and qualitatively promote collecting among future collectors.

With the aim of making collecting a subject of study and interest at the University, bringing this reality closer to faculty and students, to help them engage with and take part in a reality without which art would lose momentum.

The Conference combines presentations delivered by the owners and managers of the country’s most important public and private collections, by university professors and by different specialists, so that we can analyse and reflect on the state of play of Spanish art collecting, highlighting the role played by private collectors who safeguard artistic heritage, generating a common good by sharing it with the public, and emphasising the links and relationships created between the public and private spheres in order to make heritage more visible.

We aim to understand the role these collections have played in history and to analyse how they are integrated into their new location once they have been bequeathed, donated or loaned to a public institution, as well as how private collections impact the art ecosystem and their significance.

We propose an overview of what has happened to date in private art collecting in Spain, questioning where we are heading and what solutions we can offer in support of patronage, given the need to create a sustainable system that guarantees public display of private heritage shared with society.