The fair has drawn 31,000 visitors, 25 % more than last year and sales have equaled 2008 levels. Collectors have sought out works by young artists. Visitor count and institutional purchases have grown. More visitors from abroad and from other regions of Spain have been drawn to the fair. Galleries enjoy their client following, visits and sales.

In its fourth year, the Modern and Contemporary Art Fair, Art Madrid, has succeeded in surpassing it’s previous expectations and has reached a total sales figure of approximately 22 million euros, similar to that of last year. Moreover, the number of visitors grew by 25%, surpassing a 31,000 count during the five-day duration of the fair.

Art Madrid thus strengthens its position as a key visit on the cultural agenda and remains being a important focal point for contemporary Spanish art. The surprise of the fair were the young artists, that sold more than expected, with names like Juan Francisco Casas, Jacinto Moros, Germán Gómez, Unai San Martín, Samuel Salcedo, Salvador Díaz, César Delgado, Sergio Barrera or Sara Sanz.

Additionally, works by historically vanguard Spanish and international, artists, such as Warhol, Lindstrom, Carmen Calvo, Alexanco, Equipo Crónica, José Hernández, Chillida, Broto, Plensa and Canogar, amongst others, have also sold.

Art Madrid 2010 will continue backing new galleries. Looking toward next year’s fair scheduled for February 2010, the Art Madrid organization will once again focus on presenting a diverse and high quality selection of art. Special attention will be paid once again to exhibiting talented young artists while there will also be space for more established vanguard ones.

Seventy-four galleries participated in this year’s fair. Of those, the majority were Spanish (61) and Portuguese (5) followed by Colombia, Germany, Holland, Argentina, Brazil and Cuba. Together they sold works by 550 Spanish and international artists.

This year’s fair also drew greater media coverage than previous fairs. Over 300 hundred members of the Spanish and international press attended the fair, producing articles, magazine, radio and television reports throughout the country. Foreign press coverage represented countries ranging from Portugal, France, Germany and Italy, to Brazil, Croacia, Cuba, U.S.A., Mexico and Colombia.

Various institutions and savings and loan associations made purchases at the fair that was visited by distinguished individuals such as José Jiménez, Director General for Fine Arts, from the Spanish Ministry of Culture; José António Pinto Ribeiro, Portugal's Minister of Culture; Manuel Olveira, Director of the Galician Center of Contemporary Art (CGAC); Cristina Conde, Director of Cultural Projects of the City of Madrid or Consuelo Císcar, Director of the Valencia Institute of Modern Art (IVAM), among many others.

Art Madrid and Latin American Art - This year and for the first time, Art Madrid has gone beyond the Pabellón de Cristal (Glass Exhibition Hall) in order to promote Latin American Art by partnering with the Casa de America on an exhibition that will be on view at at the Casa de América until March 15th. Entitled: “Return. Latin American Art and Memory”, co-sponsored by the Casa de America and Art Madrid, presents the work of 14 artists whose work addressed topics of current-day Latin American culture. Included are works by Vik Muniz, Adriana Varejao, Dulce Pinzón and Alfredo Castañeda.