The MNBA is the main art museum of Argentina and one of the main of its kind in Latin America. It has an artistic heritage of more than 12,000 works, both by Argentine artists and by Latin American and European great masters.
The antecedents of the National museum of beautiful go back to the year 1895 when it opened its doors in the Galleries of Bon Marché, place that today occupy the current Pacific Galleries. In those early years his collection was somewhat scarce, but over the years his assets were increased thanks to own acquisitions and donations from the most distinguished neighbors of Buenos Aires. When its exhibition and guard capacity was exceeded, it was transferred to the now extinct Argentine Pavilion, in the Plaza General San Martín.
In 1932 the museum was moved again, this time to the old Bomb House, a place where formerly the city’s pumping stations and water tanks were located. After several reforms the national museum of fine arts found its definitive house here.
In its rooms we can find works by the greatest Argentine artists such as Quinquela Martín, Cándido López or Antonio Berni, among others, and of course the masters of universal art such as Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso or Rembrandt. The ground floor of the museum has 24 exhibition halls with an international and Argentine collection of high quality paintings, ranging from art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. There is also the museum’s library, which has more than 150,000 volumes dedicated to the study of art. On the first floor there are 8 rooms dedicated to Argentine and Latin American art of the 20th century. In addition, the museum has two rooms on the second floor, where there is a photographic exhibition and two sculpture terraces.