Piedra de toque. Cristina Garrido

La Casa Encendida hosts the exhibition Piedra de toque from 9 October 2026 to 7 March 2027, a project curated by Cristina Garrido that explores the concept of value through the history of El Monte de Piedad de Madrid and the Colección Fundación Montemadrid. The proposal brings together first-rate works from the collection with appraisal tools, notarial documents and historical objects kept for decades at El Monte, the former seat of pawnbroking and lending.

The exhibition gathers paintings by Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Rafael Canogar or Equipo Crónica alongside instruments used in the appraisal trade, such as precision scales, gauges, gemology manuals and traditional touchstones. Among the most notable contrasts is the presence of the tiny canvas Paisaje surreal by Dalí, barely four centimetres long, set against appraisal systems to reflect on the paradoxes of the market and the economic valuation of works of art.

The show also incorporates six historical period clocks that will be set to the correct time weekly in the gallery by their conservation clockmaker. The room recreates the aesthetic of the old pawn offices and storerooms, showing visitors how the pieces were appraised, catalogued and stored.

This is an unmissable opportunity to approach works by artists such as Dalí or Miró from an unusual perspective, while discovering the past of the building and the craft of appraisal.