In search of beauty

In these pages the search for beauty is revealed as a deeply personal journey. Each page invites us to reflect on how we perceive beauty, what determines beauty, where to find it, and what it implies. The key figures in our fall exhibitions —the photographer Weegee, the iconic collector and patron Peggy Guggenheim, the visionary art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and the hunter of decisive moments Henri Cartier-Bresson— invite us to explore their particular views of life and beauty. Accompanied by the pens of Sara Torres, Jacobo Bergareche and Bernard Plossu we unravel the enigma surrounding the talent of these great figures in the history of art; because, as Richard Learoyd reminds us in the section Concomitance: “There is something enigmatic that lends beauty to a work, beyond the creator and the beholder.”

But our search for beauty does not stop here. Poet Piedad Bonnett invites us to rethink how we perceive beauty, while curator Isabel Tejeda reflects on what defines beauty and where it can be found. The film director Paula Ortiz offers us a deep and evocative look at the fringes of dignity and aesthetics. And delving even deeper into this reflection, neuroscientist Nazareth Castellanos unlocks the secrets of the brain, confirming something that many of us intuitively know: “beauty does bring happiness”.

We also discuss key topics such as inclusion, social innovation and health, areas that enrich our understanding of beauty. José Manuel Calderón, a former NBA player, tells us about his inclusive sports initiative to support people with functional diversity. And we also take a look at other initiatives that improve the lives of others, in this case related to safe and sustainable mobility: we talk to the participants in the Fundación MAPFRE Social Innovation Awards. On top of all this, we are launching a new section, Technoaddictions, which on this occasion deals with the increasingly worrying problem of young people hooked on gambling. Finally, we bid farewell to our section dedicated to rare diseases with a touching article on “butterfly skin”.

In this 5th issue of la fundación each story, each glance and each reflection is an invitation to discover the beauty. Join us.