Where to See Argentinean Art in Buenos Aires

Two hundred years of Argentinean creativity and talent cannot be easily summed up. However, visitors to Buenos Aires, a major Latin American cultural hub, can appreciate and learn about Argentinean art at some of the city’s art museums.

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA)

The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, or Fine Arts Museum, holds the country’s largest collection of Argentinean art. On display are artworks from the Middle Ages to the present.

The “Arte Argentino Siglo XIX” room on the first floor holds paintings by renowned artists like Prilidiano Pueyrredón and Cándido López. Pueyrredón (1823-1870) portrayed members of the elite and captured the social customs and scenes of everyday life in 19th-century Buenos Aires. His most iconic painting is the 1851 portrait of Manuelita de Rosas, the daughter of dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Cándido López (1840-1902) was a master of battle painting. He fought in the War of the Triple Alliance, where Argentina, Uruguay, and the Brazilian Empire fought against Paraguay between 1864 and 1870, the bloodiest conflict in Latin American history. López meticulously painted battle scenes and life in the military camps.

On the second floor, several rooms display Argentinean art from different movements, like the La Boca school and social realism (1920-1945) or the River Plate avant-garde movement (1910-1925).

The museum is housed in a repurposed former water pumping station.

Museo Benito Quinquela Martín

Nowadays, La Boca district serves as a tourist magnet thanks to its colorful old tenements. But in the past, La Boca attracted immigrants because its bustling port was the nation’s gateway. A local painter captured its very essence: Benito Quinquela Martín.

Quinquela Martín (1890-1977) grew up in La Boca, and, as a teenager worked as a stevedore with his adopted Italian father. His firsthand experience of the dockworkers’ harsh life shaped his work, which encompasses three primary themes: the daily activities of life in the bustling port, fire as light that illuminates human activity, and the ship graveyard as a life cycle metaphor.

The artist himself donated the building that houses the museum. Visitors will find not only Quinquela Martín’s oil paintings and etchings, but one of the largest collections of figureheads in Latin America, and works by Argentinean figurative artists.

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano (MALBA)

The main goal of the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) – Fundación Costantini, is to collect, preserve, research, and promote Latin American art of the 20^th century onwards. Its collection comprises artwork by renowned Latin American artists like Frida Kahlo and Tarsila do Amaral and different art forms: paintings, sculptures, drawings, collages, photography, and video.

Among the many Argentinean artists whose work is displayed are Antonio Berni (1905-1981) and Emilio Pettoruti (1892-1971).  Berni’s work reflects the country’s social and economic situation, particularly the living conditions of the working classes and those excluded from society. His paintings try to raise awareness about social issues.

Emilio Pettoruti’s avant-garde work caused a stir in the art scene in 1920s Buenos Aires. His abstract art has elements of cubism and futurism and earned him many international awards. Pettoruti is known for his depictions of harlequins.

The limestone, glass, and steel building features the deconstructivist style by a local architectural firm that won an international competition in 1997, with the world-renowned architects Norman Foster, César Pelli, and Mario Botta as jurors.

Colección de Arte Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat (Colección AMALITA)

Located in the Puerto Madero district, the Colección AMALITA, for short, started as the private art collection of Argentina’s richest lady, the late Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat. The highlights of the collection are a Warhol, a Pieter Brueghel II, and a Turner, among others, on display on the first level. However, the second level highlights Argentinean art organized by decade and art movement.

The collection includes works by Surrealist artist Mildred Burton (d. 2008), which reflect her upbringing, a blend of Anglo-Saxon and Latin American influences. In her paintings, the surreal blends with the political realism of the 1970s and 80s. Elements of 19^th-century British movements like Arts and Crafts are also present.

The Nueva Figuración (or Neofiguration) was an artistic movement that appeared in Latin America in the 1960s and 70s and was prevalent in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and, to a lesser extent, in Spain. Rómulo Macció (1931-2016) was a prominent member of that group. His work reinterprets the human figure and is part of the Fortabat Collection.

Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (MAMBA)

Housed in two historic buildings, the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires provides a striking contrast with the modern art within. The main red brick industrial-looking building dates from 1898 and used to be a tobacco-processing plant. The other building is an 18^th-century colonial house. The structure had undergone significant modifications. As a result, engineers chose to conserve and display the original foundations in what is now the conference room.

The MAMBA collection comprises over 7000 works of modern and contemporary art by renowned local and international artists of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. It includes, among others, artwork by Marta Minujín (b. 1943) and Raquel Forner (1902-1988).

Marta Minujín is a conceptual and performance artist known for her happenings and ephemeral artwork. Her paintings and sculptures are displayed in many museums around the world. She was especially active in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s and has won many national and international awards.

War, revolutions, and dictatorships greatly influenced Raquel Forner’s work. Divided into series, the works include a Spanish series, which reflects the ravages of the Civil War. It is hard to classify Forner’s art, which evolved from expressionist and surrealist to abstract and neo-figurative.

 

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