Timoteo Navarro Museum of Art
Encyclopedia
The Timoteo Navarro Provincial Museum of Fine Arts is the leading museum of its kind in Tucumán Province
, Argentina
.
The museum became an autonomous entity in 1922, and in 1931, it was transferred to larger facilities. It was again transferred in 1957 to the historic home of former President Nicolás Avellaneda
, though the building's deteriorating state led to the museum's closure in 1997, and its collections were temporarily moved to the provincial Secretariat of Culture. The closure of a landmark branch of the Bank of the Province of Tucumán and its designation as a National Historic Monument allowed the Secretariat of Culture to relocate the growing collections to its present site, reinaugurating the museum on September 29, 2003.
Renamed in honor of the famed local sculptor Lola Mora
in 1975, the museum was again renamed in 1986 in honor of local painter and art instructor Timoteo Navarro.
The museum is housed in an eclectic, baroque
and French neoclassical building designed in 1905 by Belgian-Argentine architect Alberto Pelsmaekers (18551923). The main hall, where the majority of the museum's exhibits are displayed, is a 400 m² (4,200 ft²) space topped by a two-story ceiling and a skylight, a 144 m² (1,500 ft²) glass and iron structure sustained by wrought-iron pillars.
Its permanent collections, the most important in the Argentine Northwest
, include over 680 works, including paintings, sketches, lithographs, ceramics, sculptures, illustrated poems and photographs. Among the Argentine artists represented are: Pompeyo Audivert, Antonio Berni
, Pío Collivadino
, Ezequiel Linares, Luis Lobo de la Vega, Timoteo Navarro, Antonio Pujía
, Benito Quinquela Martín
, Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós
, and Lino Enea Spilimbergo
.
Tucumán Province
Tucumán is the most densely populated, and the smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are, clockwise from the north: Salta, Santiago del Estero and...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Overview
The museum was first proposed by a prominent local lawyer and educator, Juan Bautista Terán, who in 1912 established the National University of Tucumán. The museum was conceived to complement the new university's School of Fine Arts, and on June 18, 1916, the institution was inaugurated as the first in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán.The museum became an autonomous entity in 1922, and in 1931, it was transferred to larger facilities. It was again transferred in 1957 to the historic home of former President Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva was an Argentine politician and journalist, and president of Argentina from 1874 to 1880. Avellaneda's main projects while in office were banking and education reform, leading to Argentina's economic growth...
, though the building's deteriorating state led to the museum's closure in 1997, and its collections were temporarily moved to the provincial Secretariat of Culture. The closure of a landmark branch of the Bank of the Province of Tucumán and its designation as a National Historic Monument allowed the Secretariat of Culture to relocate the growing collections to its present site, reinaugurating the museum on September 29, 2003.
Renamed in honor of the famed local sculptor Lola Mora
Lola Mora
Lola Mora was a sculptor, born in a barn in the , though generally considered native to Trancas, province of Tucumán, where she was recorded and baptized. She is known today as a rebel and a pioneer of women in her artistic field...
in 1975, the museum was again renamed in 1986 in honor of local painter and art instructor Timoteo Navarro.
The museum is housed in an eclectic, baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
and French neoclassical building designed in 1905 by Belgian-Argentine architect Alberto Pelsmaekers (18551923). The main hall, where the majority of the museum's exhibits are displayed, is a 400 m² (4,200 ft²) space topped by a two-story ceiling and a skylight, a 144 m² (1,500 ft²) glass and iron structure sustained by wrought-iron pillars.
Its permanent collections, the most important in the Argentine Northwest
Argentine Northwest
The Argentine Northwest is a region of Argentina composed by the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán.-Geography:The region had 5 different biomes:* Sub-Andean humid Sierras of the east...
, include over 680 works, including paintings, sketches, lithographs, ceramics, sculptures, illustrated poems and photographs. Among the Argentine artists represented are: Pompeyo Audivert, Antonio Berni
Antonio Berni
Delesio Antonio Berni was a figurative artist, born in Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina. He worked as a painter, an illustrator and an engraver. His father, Napoleón Berni, was an immigrant tailor from Italy...
, Pío Collivadino
Pío Collivadino
Pío Collivadino was an Argentine painter of the post-impressionist school.-Life and work:Pío Collivadino was born in Buenos Aires, in 1869...
, Ezequiel Linares, Luis Lobo de la Vega, Timoteo Navarro, Antonio Pujía
Antonio Pujía
Antonio Pujía is a well-known Argentine sculptor.-Life and work:Antonio Pujía was born in Polia, a small town in the Calabria region of Italy, in 1929, and relocated to Buenos Aires with his mother in 1937...
, Benito Quinquela Martín
Benito Quinquela Martín
Benito Quinquela Martín , 1890 – January 28, 1977) was an Argentine painter born in La Boca, Buenos Aires. Quinquela Martín is considered the port painter-par-excellence and one of the most popular Argentine painters...
, Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós
Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós
Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós was an Argentine painter of the post-impressionist school.- Life and work :De Quirós was born in Gualeguay, Entre Ríos Province, in 1879. He began to paint at age eight, and shortly afterwards, created a facial composite sketch that resulted in a fugitive criminal's...
, and Lino Enea Spilimbergo
Lino Enea Spilimbergo
Lino Enea Spilimbergo was an Argentine artist and engraver, and he is considered to be one of the country's most important painters....
.