National Museum of Decorative Arts, Buenos Aires

The Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo (English: National Museum of Decorative Arts) is an arts and crafts museum in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. It is located in the former Palacio Errazuriz on Avenida del Libertador in the Palermo district.

Overview

The museum has its origins in the marriage between two prominent members of the high society of the turn of the century: in 1897, married Matias Errazuriz, son of Chilean immigrants, Josefina de Alvear, the daughter of Mayor Torcuato de Alvear.

The couple commissioned the French architect René Sergent in 1911 to build a house, for the time after the activity of Errazuriz as ambassador in Paris. The richly decorated building in the neoclassical style inspired the Bosch family a similar house in the neighborhood to build. There is today the residence of the U.S. ambassador. 1916, the house of the couple Errazuriz - Alvear was completed, two more years were then used to equip the house with many antiques and art objects.

As Josefina de Alvear died in 1935, bequeathed the widower on the advice of his children, the house of the Argentine government. In 1937, the museum was opened. Since then, little has changed. In the twelve showrooms over 4000 objects are on display, including paintings by El Greco, Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Edouard Manet, sculptures of antiquity and of Auguste Rodin, East Asian art, tapestries, porcelain, furniture of the 18th century and a collection of miniature art. The permanent exhibition is supplemented by temporary exhibitions, as well as choir concerts and workshops are held regularly. The museum is also home to the Academia Argentina de Letras.