National Museum of Visual Arts (Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales)
Uruguay's largest public collection of painting and sculpture, in a 1930 pavilion in Parque Rodó.
The museum was created on 10 December 1911 and first occupied a wing of the Solís Theatre. It moved to Parque Rodó after a pavilion was built there for the centenary celebrations of the swearing of the constitution in 1930. The Argentine architect Clorindo Testa carried out the most far-reaching remodelling in the 1970s, reorganising the galleries and giving the building its present concrete character. A further room for temporary exhibitions was added on the upper floor in 1986, and the front garden was laid out in the 1990s.
The collection numbers several thousand works and is the largest public holding of Uruguayan painting and sculpture, with key groups by Juan Manuel Blanes, Pedro Figari, Joaquín Torres García, Petrona Viera and Rafael Barradas, alongside a smaller international section. Admission is free and the museum runs a rolling programme of temporary shows drawn from the collection and from contemporary practice, together with guided visits for school and university groups arranged through its education department.
Highlights
- Largest public collection of Uruguayan painting and sculpture
- Works by Blanes, Figari, Torres García and Petrona Viera
- 1930 exhibition pavilion remodelled by Clorindo Testa
- Free admission and a changing programme of temporary shows
