Page 108 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Argentina

106  BUENOS AIRES AREA B Y AREA

6 Palais de Glace
Posadas 1725. City Map 3 D2.
Tel (011) 4804-1163. @ 17, 61, 62, 67,
92, 124, 130. Open noon–8pm Tue–
Fri, 10am–8pm Sat & Sun. 8 5pm &
6pm Sat & Sun (book ahead). 7
∑ palaisdeglace.gob.ar
Officially known as the National
Palace of the Arts, the Palais
de Glace (Palace of Ice) was
inaugurated in 1910. It was
initially designed to hold an ice- The severe Neo-Classical façade of Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
skating rink, modeled closely on
Paris’s own Palais de Glace. 7 Museo Nacional art, including Antonio Berni,
The ice-rink idea did not prove de Bellas Artes Xul Solar, Leon Ferrari, Raquel
popular and in 1915 the palace Forner, Prilidiano Pueyrredón,
became a tango ballroom, and Ave del Libertador 1473. City Map 2 Fernando Fader, and Antonio
C2. Tel (011) 5288-9900. @ 67, 93,
during the 1920s it was the city’s 130. Open 12:30−8:30pm Tue−Fri, Seguí, represented by some of
key party venue. In 1931, the 9:30am−8:30pm Sat, Sun, & hols. 8 their best-known and most
building was donated to the Fine 12:30pm Tue, Thu, & Fri, 2pm Sat influential works. The influ ences
Arts Institute and became an art (English). 7 = ∑ mnba.org.ar of European art are vividly
gallery. From 1954 to 1960 it was apparent in the Argentinian
used as a tele vision studio for the In 1932, Argentina’s National works, but the divergences the
channel Canal Siete. The palace Fine Arts Museum moved to artists make to illustrate the
was later converted back into an occupy one of the city’s major local view point are interesting.
art gallery and declared a water works facilities, where it For example, a painter like Berni
National Monument in 2004. has remained ever since. used the tech niques of social
The Palais de Glace, with its The interior was comple tely realism to specifically portray his
crowned columns and vaulted remodeled under the super- own unique criollo (mixed race)
dome, can be enjoyed as one of vision of Alejandro Bustillo, one environment. The museum
the finest examples of Parisian- of the country’s greatest archi- is gradually shaking off its
style architecture in the city. It is tects. The Neo-Classical façade reputation as a cautious,
also an impor tant exhibition has changed little since the hidebound institution. In 2004,
space for national and inter- origi nal facility opened in 1870. it opened its first branch in the
national shows which include Apart from some subsequent Patagonian city of Neuquén,
photo graphy, paintings, and expan sion and renova tion work, and in 2005 it added a perma-
sculp ture. The palace hosts the the museum, with its spacious nent display of pre-Columbian
annual Antiques Fair organized and well-lit salons, remains art. Audio tours and a well-
by the Association of Friends of much as it was when President stocked bookshop have
the National Museum of Justo cut the ribbon in 1933. helped make it an excellent
Decorative Arts. It is still held in Currently the museum modern museum.
high regard for its historic comprises 34 exhibition
contribution to tango. rooms divided over three
sprawling floors. There are
more than 12,000 works in the
permanent collection, although
only 700 can be displayed at
any one time. The specialist
art library, also open to the
public, contains more than
150,000 volumes.
The collection housed in the
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
is one of the most outstanding
in South America. On display are
works by many of the canonical
figures in art history, including
Goya, Rubens, Rembrandt,
El Greco, Rodin, Klee, Renoir,
Degas, Picasso, and Toulouse-
Lautrec. The exhibits also
The elegant space of the Palais de Glace include some of the most Retrato de Manuelita Rosas (1840) by
now used for art exhibitions famous names in Argentinian Prilidiano Pueyrredón
For hotels and restaurants in this area see p279 and pp289–90

106-107_EW_Argentina.indd 106 05/08/16 10:40 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.6)
Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm