The Waldorf Astoria New York’s 15 Sert canvases, exiled near Madrid since 1972, win Spanish heritage status

The fifteen canvases Josep Maria Sert painted for the Waldorf Astoria New York’s Sert Room now enjoy heritage protection, but in Spain, as a Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC), the country’s highest heritage status. Removed by the hotel in 1972, they belong to Banco Santander and have been on display since 2005 in Boadilla del Monte, near Madrid, where the Community of Madrid protected them by a decree of 9 September 2026.

☰Contents

1. The Sert Room, Park Avenue’s gala dining room
2. Fifteen silver canvases inspired by Don Quixote
3. Removed in 1972, passed from bank to bank
4. Why is Madrid the one protecting them?
5. Restored canvases, free entry in Boadilla
6. At the reopened Waldorf, no more Sert Room

The Sert Room, Park Avenue’s gala dining room

In 1929, the new Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue commissioned Josep Maria Sert to decorate one of its two restaurants. The canvases were installed in mid-1931 in the gala dining room, promptly renamed the ‘Sert Room’.

Until the 1960s, the room ranked among New York’s great society venues. Xavier Cugat led the orchestra there for sixteen seasons, and the radio programme ‘Cenas en el Waldorf Astoria’ was recorded there. Sert liked to say that guests admired his work ‘between two sips of champagne’.

Fifteen silver canvases inspired by Don Quixote

Painted between the second half of 1929 and spring 1930 in Sert’s Paris studio at Villa Segur, the fifteen panels combine oil and silver leaf on canvas, with glazes of sienna, black and carmine. All stand 4.20 m high; the central panel, Las bodas de Camacho, is 6.40 m wide.

The theme is Spanish and festive: Camacho’s wedding, taken from Don Quixote, leads a procession of musicians, acrobats and bulls inspired by the Spanish Golden Age and Goya. The other titles say it all: La charanga, Guitarras y bandurrias, Castellers, La siesta, El astrólogo, La buenaventura, Los borrachos, El forzudo, Los toros, El saltocarnero, Funámbulos, Bailarines, Los trapecios and Caballerías.

Removed in 1972, passed from bank to bank

The hotel removed the canvases in 1972 during renovation work, and antique dealers took them to Barcelona. They were shown in 1973 at Pedralbes Palace, in an exhibition devoted to Sert, then bought the same year by Banco Exterior de España.

They passed to Banco Urquijo in 1976, appeared in 1987 at the Palacio de Velázquez in Madrid’s Retiro park as property of Banco Hispano Americano, then joined the Santander group. Since 2005, they have been on public display at the Ciudad Grupo Santander in Boadilla del Monte.

Why is Madrid the one protecting them?

The listing came from neither New York nor Barcelona. The Governing Council of the Community of Madrid adopted decree 77/2026 on 9 September 2026, signed by Isabel Díaz Ayuso and regional culture minister Mariano de Paco Serrano. Published in BOCM no. 221 on 16 September, it came into force the following day and was sent to Spain’s Ministry of Culture for entry in the General Register of Bienes de Interés Cultural.

A Catalan application, opened in 1987 at the request of Banco Urquijo Unión, never came to anything; its closure in October 2025 allowed Madrid, where the works are kept, to open its own. A public consultation in late 2025, a unanimous opinion from the Regional Heritage Council, a report from the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando that did not oppose protection: not a single objection was filed.

In New York, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated eight interior spaces of the Waldorf in 2017, including the Park Avenue lobby and the Grand Ballroom, but not the Sert Room. As for the Grand Ballroom, the hotel has already turned it into a tennis court.

Restored canvases, free entry in Boadilla

A restoration carried out in 2024-2025 removed the oxidised varnish and overpainting, consolidated the paint layer and laid fresh silver leaf in the losses to bring back the original metallic sheen. The decree rates their state of conservation as ‘good’.

The Sala de Arte at the Ciudad Grupo Santander devotes a space to the series. Entry is free on presentation of ID, Monday to Thursday from 10am to 5pm and Friday from 10am to 2pm, September to July. On 10 December 2025, the Fundación Banco Santander brought in the Cuban band Los Chocolatinos, a nod to Cugat’s orchestra. To stay in town, see Casa Verbena, Hilton’s new address in Madrid.

At the reopened Waldorf, no more Sert Room

Closed on 1 March 2017 and reopened on 15 July 2025, the Waldorf Astoria New York no longer has a Sert Room. Its official website lists the Grand Ballroom, the Basildon Room, the Jade Room, foyers and eight boardrooms; the restaurants and bars are Lex Yard, Yoshoku and Peacock Alley. Rooms, suites and prices are covered in our complete guide to the Waldorf Astoria New York.

To see Sert in New York, walk a few blocks to the lobby of 30 Rockefeller Plaza: his decorative paintings, including American Progress, were commissioned there after his success at the Waldorf.

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