The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes ("National Museum of Fine Arts") is an
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
art museum in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, located in the
Recoleta section of the city. The Museum inaugurated a branch in
Neuquén
Neuquén (; arn, Nehuenken) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén river ...
in 2004. The museum hosts works by Goya, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Rodin, Manet and Chagall among other artists.
History
Argentine painter and art critic
Eduardo Schiaffino, was the first director of the museum, which opened on 25 December 1895, in a building on
Florida Street
Florida Street ( es, Calle Florida) is a popular shopping street in Downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. A pedestrian street since 1971, some stretches have been pedestrianized since 1913.
The pedestrian section as such starts at the intersection ...
that today houses the
Galerías Pacífico
Galerías Pacífico is a shopping centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located at the intersection of Florida Street and Córdoba Avenue.
Overview
The Beaux Arts building was designed by the architects Emilio Agrelo and Roland Le Vacher in 1889 t ...
shopping mall. In 1909, the museum moved to a building in
Plaza San Martín, originally erected in Paris as the
Argentine Pavilion for the
1889 Paris exhibition, and later dismantled and brought to Buenos Aires. In its new home, the museum became part of the
International Centenary Exhibition held in Buenos Aires in 1910. Following the demolition of the pavilion in 1932, as part of the remodeling of Plaza San Martín, the museum was transferred to its present location in 194
3, a building originally constructed in 1870 as a drainage pumping station and adapted to its current use by architect
Alejandro Bustillo
Alejandro Bustillo (18 March 1889 – 3 November 1982) was an Argentine painter and architect who left his mark in various tourist destinations in Argentina, especially in the Andean region of the Patagonia.
Biography
Born in Buenos Aires, so ...
.
The museum was modernized both physically and in its collections during the 1955–64 tenure of director
Jorge Romero Brest. A temporary exhibits pavilion opened in 1961, and the museum acquired a large volume of
modern art
Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...
though its collaboration with the
Torcuato di Tella Institute
The Torcuato di Tella Institute is a non-profit foundation organized for the promotion of Argentine culture.
Overview 1959-1960
The Di Tella Foundation and its institute were created on July 22, 1958, the tenth anniversary of the death of indust ...
, a leading promoter of local,
avant-garde art
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
ists, and elsewhere; a contemporary Argentine art pavilion opened in 1980. This hall is the largest of 34 currently in use at the museum, which totals of exhibit space. Its permanent collection totals 688 major works and over 12,000 sketches, fragments, potteries, and other minor works. The institution also maintains a specialized library, totaling 150,000 volumes, as well as a public auditorium. The museum commissioned architect
to design a branch in the
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
n region city of
Neuquén
Neuquén (; arn, Nehuenken) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén river ...
. Inaugurated in 2004, this museum has four exhibit halls totaling and a permanent collection of 215 works, as well as temporary exhibits and a public auditorium.
The ground floor of the museum holds 24 exhibit halls housing a fine international collection of paintings from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century, together with the museum's art history library. The first floor's eight exhibit halls contain a collection of paintings by some of the most important 20th-century Argentine painters, including
Antonio Berni,
Ernesto de la Cárcova
Ernesto de la Cárcova y Arrotea (March 3, 1866 – December 28, 1927) was an Argentine painter of the Realist school.
Life and work
Ernesto de la Cárcova was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1866. Taking an early interest in the canvas, h ...
,
Benito Quinquela Martín
Benito Quinquela Martín (March 1, 1890 – January 28, 1977) was an Argentine painter. Quinquela Martín is considered the port painter-par-excellence and one of the most popular Argentine painters. His paintings of port scenes show the activit ...
,
Eduardo Sívori
Eduardo Sívori (October 13, 1847 – June 5, 1918) was an Argentine artist widely regarded as his country's first realist painter.
Life and work
Born to Genoese immigrants in Buenos Aires, Sívori had harbored artistic leanings during childho ...
,
Sarah Grilo
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pio ...
,
Alfredo Guttero
Alfredo Nicolás Guttero (26 May 1882, Buenos Aires – 1 December 1932, Buenos Aires) was an Argentine modernist painter and art promoter.
Biography
He displayed creative talent at an early age, starting with music but later turning to art. Fo ...
,
Raquel Forner,
Xul Solar
Xul Solar was the adopted name of Oscar Agustín Alejandro Schulz Solari (14 December 1887 – 9 April 1963), an Argentine painter, sculptor, writer, and inventor of imaginary languages.
Biography
Oscar Agustín Alejandro Schulz Solari was born ...
,
Marcelo Pombo
Marcelo Pombo (born 1959) is an Argentine artist. His work is in the collections of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, the MALBA, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, the Museo Castagnino ...
and
Lino Enea Spilimbergo
Lino Enea Spilimbergo (born Lino Claro Honorio Enea Spilimbergo; 12 August 1896 – 16 March 1964) was an Argentine artist and engraver considered to be one of the country's most important painters.
Biography
Lino Enea Spilimbergo was born i ...
. The second floor's two halls, completed in 1984, hold an exhibition of photographs and two sculpture terraces, as well as most of the institution's administrative and technical departments.
Gallery
External links
*
Asociación Amigos Museo Nacional de Bellas ArtesVirtual tour of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artesprovided by
Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.
It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires)
Museums in Buenos Aires
Art museums and galleries in Argentina
Buildings and structures completed in 1933
Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires
Art museums established in 1895
1895 establishments in Argentina