Madrid is one of the best-known art cities in the world, largely due to its “Golden Triangle of Art.” And rightfully so: few experiences rival standing in front of a Goya at the Prado, a Picasso at Reina Sofía or a Kandinsky at the Thyssen-Bornemisza. But the fame of the city’s Big Three can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, these institutions bring art enthusiasts from all over the world to Madrid. On the other, their fame—and the clear significance of the works on display—can cast a long shadow over what’s happening outside the museums’ walls.
There’s a vibrant world of art galleries in Madrid beyond these titans, and these spaces form a lesser-known but no less important part of the city’s cultural ecosystem—one that reflects Madrid’s evolving identity as a place where old-world elegance and radical creativity coexist. Anyone who wants an authentic glimpse into the fullness of the city’s art scene should make time to explore its contemporary landscape.
Madrid’s Best Art Galleries
Opera Gallery Madrid
Opera Gallery Madrid takes up three floors in the historic ABC Serrano complex with a stunning 1,000-square-meter space that blends traditional architecture with the characteristics of a modern gallery space. While the building itself was built right at the end of the 19th Century and the façade maintains its original Parisian-inspired detailing, the exhibition halls themselves are minimalist, wide open and very bright, with plenty of natural light. One of the most famous details in the interior is the monumental spiral staircase connecting the exhibition spaces, itself an attraction point for many visitors.
Opera Gallery Madrid is one of the newest entries on this list, only having opened in 2023, though its name is well-known and well-respected—Opera Gallery Group has been a household name in the art world ever since renowned French art dealer Gilles Dyan established the first two branches in Singapore and Paris in 1994. The gallery showcases both emerging artists and established masters, with exhibitions ranging from retrospectives on 20th-century icons like Picasso and Miró to contemporary Spanish artists like Manolo Valdés and Lita Cabellut, as well as notable international names like French painter Pierre Soulages and Colombian figurative artist Fernando Botero.
Galería Max Estrella
Galería Max Estrella sprawls across 350 square meters in a former Belgian Sawmill (Serrería Belga). When designing the gallery’s interior, the owners chose to preserve certain elements of the building’s industrial past, adding a bit of roughness to the otherwise classically modern exhibition hall. It has open, fluid spaces with white walls, polished concrete floors and strategic lighting to better showcase the pieces on display. The high ceilings and expansive rooms allow the gallery to accommodate large-scale installations and technological art pieces.
Founded in 1994 by Alberto de Juan, this gallery has maintained his focus on experimental approaches to contemporary art, with particular interest in works that incorporate new technologies, with exhibitions of acclaimed names like Spanish digital artist Daniel Canogar and performance artist La Ribot. The talent pool isn’t limited to Spanish locals, with international talents like Mexican-Canadian electronic artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Pittsburgh native Jessica Stockholder having held exhibits here.
F2 Galería
F2 Galería opened in 2014 and has been a cornerstone of the city’s contemporary art scene ever since, despite operating in one of Madrid’s most gallery-packed neighborhoods (Calle del Doctor Fourquet, a mere five-minute walk away from the famed Reina Sofía Museum). Paloma González and Enrique Tejerizo, the directors of the gallery, were well-respected for their previous work in the arts and brought credibility to their new venture through a careful and thoughtful curatorial approach to the art they display. The exhibition hall is a bright open space with clean lines and a contemporary minimalist aesthetic of pristine white walls and open areas that allow curators to embrace a wide spectrum of contemporary artistic expression, with an emphasis on showcasing talent from different generations and diverse backgrounds. You can see exhibitions of international artists here as often as Spanish ones—among recent notable names are Chicago-native Jonathan Hammer and São Paulo-born Antonio Malta Campos.
Never think you know what F2 has in store if you’ve seen an exhibition or two—the next one might pivot in a completely different direction. These halls have displayed everything from Clara Montoya’s experimental multimedia installations incorporating sound elements and video art to the paintings of artists like Miki Leal and Pere Llobera. F2 is a frequent guest at major international art fairs and has been a mainstay of ARCOmadrid since its founding.
Galería Fernández-Braso
Galería Fernández-Braso is located in an elegant 19th-century building in one of Madrid’s most famous districts, Barrio de Salamanca. The interior is a classic modern gallery layout with sophisticated, white-walled exhibition halls filled with natural light, with the wooden floors adding a warmer tone to the space. It opened in December 2011 and is the brainchild of Miguel Fernández-Braso, who, by that time, had already earned accolades in the Spanish art world thanks to his earlier ventures, the Rayuela art space and Galería Juan Gris. With Miguel’s sons, Miguel and Manuel, currently at the helm, the gallery keeps its curation focused on originality.
Most exhibitions at this gallery promote Spanish contemporary art from the latter half of the 20th Century to the present, with work by artists like Catalan abstract master Antoni Tàpies and Madrid-born geometric abstractionist Pablo Palazuelo. That said, sometimes the gallery hosts prominent international artists, including Argentine kinetic art pioneer Julio Le Parc and Portuguese contemporary painter Luis Coquenão.
Galería Travesía Cuatro
Housed in an architecturally significant early 1930s building that underwent a comprehensive renovation in 2022, Galería Travesía Cuatro offers a fusion of historical charm and contemporary sensibility. The exhibition space is on the smaller side, but with its impressively high ceilings (they exceed three meters), stark white walls and lots of light, the atmosphere is airy and expansive. The original moldings, wide passage doors and exposed wooden beams, meanwhile, add a rustic charm. Silvia Ortiz and Inés López-Quesada founded the gallery in 2003 to use the space as a connection point between European and Latin American art scenes, though with its prominence increasing, the space has embraced a broader global focus.
Travesía Cuatro specializes in contemporary art that is socially relevant and often embraces unique concepts, with somewhat of a more prominent focus on the medium of sculpture than most other galleries. They’ve hosted the likes of Elena Del Rivero and Teresa Solar Abboud alongside prominent international talents, including Bolivian-American multimedia artist Donna Huanca and Portuguese conceptualist Alexandre Estrela.
Galería Jorge Alcolea
Galería Jorge Alcolea has been one of the most prominent contemporary art establishments in Madrid since 1989. In contrast with many modern galleries, while the façade is more slick and modern, the interior is decorated in warmer hues, with more intimate, sophisticated yellowish lighting than most other modern art galleries that prefer starker, more neutral lighting. While the gallery dabbles into various mediums from time to time, its primary focus is on painting with Jorge Alcolea cultivating a space that’s dedicated to showcasing “the best modern and contemporary painting.”
Alcolea’s curatorial focus is largely on works that emphasize personal artistic expression with fresh, unique twists. He takes pride in supporting emerging artists, with many prominent Spanish contemporaries starting their journeys in these halls. Among the most notable names on the gallery’s roster are Spanish hyperrealist painter Eloy Morales, abstract artist Isabel Ramoneda and French cubist Fernand Léger.
Galería Ehrhardt Flórez
An iconic establishment in the world of Spanish contemporary art, Galería Ehrhardt Flórez has been active since 1980. Initially, the gallery mainly focused on introducing post-war German artists to Spain, putting the likes of Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys and Imi Knoebel on display. However, after Pablo Flórez became the director in 2009, the gallery expanded its roster to include emerging Spanish and Portuguese artists more prominently. Ehrhardt Flórez is housed in a historical building in Madrid’s Justicia neighborhood, and the exhibition space—open, white and refined—is built for contemplation. Over the last four and a half decades, Ehrhardt Flórez has hosted over 125 shows, both from established and emerging artists.
Galería Elba Benítez
Interestingly, Galería Elba Benítez shares the same address as Galería Ehrhardt Flórez, but make no mistake: while sharing the building complex, the two galleries are entirely distinct spaces. Elba Benítez founded her eponymous gallery in 1990 and has since consistently focused on showcasing art that pushes the boundaries of artistic expression. The gallery’s exhibition space is made up of several interconnected rooms with high ceilings and white walls that have been designed to accommodate everything from intimate works to large-scale installations. Some of the most notable names featured in the gallery’s exhibitions are the Joan Miró prize laureate Ignasi Aballí, prominent Spanish installation artist and sculptor Cristina Iglesias, as well as international talents like Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and French-American multi-profile artist Louise Bourgeois, renowned for her large-scale installations.
Galería de Arte Álvaro Alcázar
Established in 2006, Galería de Arte Álvaro Alcázar has, over the last two decades, managed to become a pivotal platform for contemporary art in Madrid and overshadow many older galleries in the city. Álvaro Alcázar, who by that point had already accrued three decades of experience in the art market, set out to create a space that would reflect the state of modern contemporary art, mostly focusing its curation on artists who have either already established themselves or have otherwise proven they’re making a worthy contribution to the evolution of contemporary art. In February 2025, the gallery relocated to a new space with a more industrial look that may be a little different from its earlier slick modern interior but still reflects the gallery’s dynamic spirit well.
La Fiambrera Art Gallery
Of all the galleries featured, La Fiambrera stands out for its distinctive focus on pop culture-inspired art and its playful curation. A cross-cultural collaborative effort between Colombian Maite Valderrama and Spanish Ruth López-Diéguez, La Fiambrera was founded in 2014 and has since become a prominent attraction in Madrid’s Malasaña district. The gallery may look deceptively modest from the outside, but it offers a rich experience. La Fiambrera has two floors: the top floor divides space between a small shop and a wider display of their artists, while the basement makes up for the larger exhibition area. What makes La Fiambrera so much fun is its specialized focus on pop art, urban art, illustration and pop surrealism—you’re bound to find a few new artists worth your time. The gallery represents both Spanish talent (Javier Mariscal, Antonio de Felipe, Álvaro Pérez-Fajardo, etc.) and international artists (Shag, a.k.a. Josh Agle, Danny Fields, Mark Ryden, etc). La Fiambrera has an active online presence and you can always check out their selection in the online shop, but if you’re in Madrid, definitely visit in person and grab a print. It would make a fantastic souvenir.
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