"We have consolidated ourselves in a short time in a mountain village of 400 inhabitants. One day, Howard Greenberg, the gallerist, told us: ‘You have achieved in two years what took me thirty.’ There is a lot of work and effort behind it. In reality, we work like ants; perhaps we are atomic ants. Pancho Saula and Michelle Ferrara laugh at this remark.
They laugh at an altitude of 1,342 meters, in their house in Anyós, in an Andorran valley that is dizzying with its clean and refreshing greenery. Saula and Ferrara—photographer and fashion model in their origins—united their lives and passion for art and settled in a house embedded in the landscape.
The atmosphere inside and outside is earthy. 'We visited several places and saw this one, with the oak that had grown from a stone and continues to grow 400 years later. We maintained the exterior and rebuilt the interior.'
Then they took a definitive step. Their home would become a space where great masters of photography, many of whom are still alive, could be admired. A house full of art, very well. Elton John also has breakfast every day under a Van Gogh... So what?
But Saula and Ferrara did not want the photos for themselves; their home was going to be a gallery, Alta, where they would showcase Vivian Maier, Saul Leiter, William Wegman, Sarah Moon, or Joel Meyerowitz.
A house-gallery that has also become a consulate. On one of the cornices flutters a flag with a red stripe and a white one. Saula has become the consul of the Principality of Monaco in the Principality of Andorra as well.
Two microstates whose economies can compete with much larger ones. 'Andorra offers many things, and we are in love with the country, but in certain aspects it still has room to grow. In Monaco, they enjoy opera, jazz festivals, circuses; they are very strong in sports...' In their minds is the goal of making Andorra a country with more cultural offerings.
The residence is an elegant refuge, lined with wood and books, where the dogs (Coco, Beau, and Jazz) take precedence, followed by the photographs and the soft, melancholic jazz that plays all day long.
'How does the atmosphere of the house change depending on the artwork displayed?' 'For me,' explains the former renowned model from Elite agency, 'there is always joy with the exhibited work. There are photographers and photographers; perhaps Sarah Moon has been the most different one, but the feeling of positive energy does not change. The last exhibition before Ramon Masats was featuring William Wegman's dogs...' This means that those months dogs were overwhelmingly present in the house.
The gallerists are exultant. 'Last year, when Paris Photo opened, we showcased Sarah Moon's work in a private space. The gallery was not even three years old yet and we couldn’t apply to participate. This year we applied and were accepted—something that is not normal because at this fair (held that week) you usually do not get accepted on your first attempt—and we are very happy,' says Saula.
In Paris, the gallerists presented an exhibition dedicated to Ramon Masats. 'For us he is the most important photographer in Spain during the fifties and sixties and has had hardly any international presence. We would like museums like MoMA or Pompidou to hang his work.
His images from Sanfermines have never been seen outside Spain,' they detail. On the day of the photo session, Masats' work was still hanging on the walls. The snapshot of a student scoring against a goalkeeper (perhaps a Salesian teacher?) with the ball snug against the post on a dirt field is an indelible mark of Francoist Spain.
It is not easy to concentrate in the house-gallery; it’s like The Clash's song 'Should I Stay or Should I Go,' because the stunning greenery visible almost in cinemascope through the windows is sensational and rivals with the fervor emanating from the walls filled with photographs even in the most unexpected corners.
An autumnal Chet Baker near suicide. A winter postcard: an antique car, an electric star... Signed by Joel Meyerowitz. A stolen snapshot from Vivian Maier's Rolleiflex—the nanny photographer with her wonderful yet tragic life—whose enormous success came posthumously.
The Alta gallery is full of details that enhance images framed on the best possible paper, under anti-reflective glass. Saula is a perfectionist who approaches... perfection itself. Throughout the house are tasteful details: an armchair by designer Ubald Klug for De Sede, a Pretzel chair designed by George Nelson in 1952 in a limited edition from Vitra 2008; hanging from it is a jacket by prestigious (and almost invisible) Neapolitan tailor Antonio Montanino. 'Among my treasures,' reveals Saula, 'is a Contax camera my grandfather Gabriel gave me and an Omega from the fifties my other grandfather Pere gave me.'
In previous visits to Anyós one could admire a metallic sculpture—a temporary loan—that vaguely resembled an animal and was one of Jaume Plensa's early works. 'I have always been interested; it's my other passion,' says Pancho Saula. 'The next exhibition will be by Txema Yeste, who took photographs of pine needles falling from his tree during the pandemic; his work will be published by Ramon Reverté.'
Alongside these photos will be pictures of sculptures made precisely from pine needles. 'We want this exhibition to be a turning point for sculpture to enter regularly into our gallery.' Yeste is also responsible for taking photos for this report.
The Plensa piece has left, as have the gallerists. They put on their caps and get into their blue Morgan. 'We don’t have any special interest in cars but this one has been made for over a hundred years just outside London. On the outside it has that classic body but inside it's a totally modern car.' And they leave with an air reminiscent of Bonnie & Clyde—without guns but filled with adventures and thousands of camera clicks and flashes. Click. Click. Click."
