MUSEO NACIONAL DE BELLAS ARTES

Inaugurated on Christmas Day in 1896 and located in the heart of the gardens of Recoleta, this superb museum displays around 11,000 works, not all of which are on display at the same time. It is very large, admirably well-lit and highlighted, with explanations at the entrance to each room putting into perspective and relating the works on display by artistic trend. In 2015, Cristina Kirchner inaugurated 16 new rooms, which will allow for the exhibition of almost 300 additional works by 20th century Argentine painters.

The ground floor offers a panorama of Western art, from the Middle Ages to the present day (collection of 19th century French works). The oldest work is a 12th century Virgin and Child. Paintings by Picasso, Monet, De Chirico, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Degas, Klee, Léger, Goya, El Greco, Rubens or Tiepolo (among others).

On the first floor, Argentinean art is in the spotlight, with a wide range of artists such as Morel, García del Molino, the masters of the 19th century (Pueyrredón, de la Cárcova, Sívori...), and the most important artists of the 20th century (Pueyrredón, de la Cárcova, Sívori...).) or those of the 20th century: Fader (post-impressionist painter of rural life in the 1910-1920s), Xul Solar (prolix surrealist), Pettoruti (genius of Argentine cubism), Berni (painter and muralist master of portraits). This is really the section not to be missed if you only have to do one, with several works by talented Uruguayan painters such as Rafael Barradas, Joaquín Torres García or Pedro Figari.