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Havana Biennial
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Venues: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

 

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

© Photo: Carlos Dell'Acqua

 

Centro Asturiano

Centro Asturiano

© Photo: Carlos Dell'Acqua

The National Museum for Fine Arts was founded in 1913, and was first housed in a building in Centro Habana.

In 1954, architect Esteban Rodríguez Pichardo designed the new headquarters in Trocadero Street, between Zulueta and Monserrate at the edge of Old Havana. In 1957, the famous Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier described the building as one of the best museums on the American continent.

The Havana Biennial used the museum as an exhibition venue from the first edition (1984) until the fifth (1994). However, it had to be closed in 1996 due to its poor condition.

A fundamental reconstruction, combined with an extension of two additional buildings, was begun in 1999 under the leadership of architect José Linares Ferrera. The National Museum for Fine Arts was re-opened on 18 July 2001.

In addition to the original headquarters, the museum now has the buildings of the former Centro Asturiano along the Parque Central at its disposal, as well as a former barracks, in which the administration and scientific departments are housed.


Collections

The National Museum’s entire collection currently contains ca. 48,000 works, of which approximately 2000 are shown at the two exhibition venues.

In the headquarters in Trocadero Street, one can see Cuban art from the colonial period through the 19th century, 20th century avant-garde, and the new generations since the 1950s up to young artists of the 1990s.

In the former Centro Asturiano, portions of the extensive international art collection are on display, including: antiquity (ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece), European paintings from the 15th to 20th century (Spain, Germany, Flemish masters, Holland, France, Italy, Great Britain), as well as paintings from North and Latin America.

 

Addresses:

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
Trocadero entre Zulueta y Monserrate,
Habana Vieja

former Centro Asturiano
San Rafael y Zulueta,
Parque Central

Havana / City Map

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