Eight Small Museums

Buenos Aires has dozens of small museums and galleries. They say that if you are "anybody", there's a museum in your honour. With the luxury of 4 weeks in the city, I've dropped in on a number that I find particularly enchanting. Here is a short list of eight.



The "Palais de Glace" is an old ice skating rink right in Recoleta just down the street from the famous cemetary. It is dedicated to modern Argentine artists. Some really inspiring work!





The "Palacio Paz" on Plaza San Martin in the city centre - built at the beginning of the last century by an aging doctor who assumed he was going to be President of the Republic. He imported all of the building material - stone, wood, glass - from France and built himself a "presidential palace". Alas, he never did gain the post and today, the building is the Military Club. They'll take you on a tour at 11am 3 days a week.

The City Museum of Buenos Aires occupies a beautiful old home in the city's oldest quarter, San Telmo. It houses a museum of toys and has space for temporary exhibits. When I visited it, there was a retrospective of a famous Argentine fabric and clothing designor, Vincent Gallego.

Just down the street from the City Museum is El Zanjon de Granados. A private investor bought an old "Chorizo House" to renovate and discovered an ancient tunnel encasing a stream under the courtyard. He has now renovated it as an event space / museum. On the upper level, you can study the structure of houses built on the site as far back as 1730, and below ground, you can follow the ancient stream under a number of properties.

The Museo National de la Traje, or nation museum of clothing also occupies a old courtyard house in San Telmo. It has a number of small rooms that show the evolution of everyday clothing in Argentina through the decades.

Of course you can't visit Buenos Aires without a stop at the Museo Evita. The first lady of Argentina after WWII loved beautiful clothes, and many of her most famous outfits are on display. However, most of the museum is dedicated to the good works of the Fundacion Maria Eva Duarte de Peron - primarily shelters for single mothers and children - and her success in winning rights for women and the poor. It is fascinating; just not as picturesque as the dresses.

I loved the MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamerico de Buenos Aires), built with the fortune of a man named Eduardo Constantini. His collection includes works by great artists including Xul Solar, Diego Rivera and Frida Khalo. But I loved the retrospective on a contemporary and friend of Andy Warhol's, Marta Minujin (the mattress art and 'fractured' sculpture below are hers). I also loved the bench that ran away and a frightening realistic work of a man 'excluded' from society.

Also in Recoleta is the Museo National de Arte Decorativo, housed in an amazing mansion built with the fortune of the Alvear family. The Matriarch of the family loved beautiful furniture and her collection, from the turn of the last century, forms the core of the collection. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside... but I bought the book!





This is just skimming the surface of the art and history that Buenos Aires has on display... I havn't even made it to the Fine Arts museum or the amazing Museo Fortabat (also built with a family fortune to house a private collection). But I'm saving those for my return from my grand tour of the countryside.

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