Fortabat Art Collection
Encyclopedia
Overview
The museum was initiated by María Amalia Lacroze de FortabatMaría Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat
María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat is a prominent Argentine executive and philanthropist.-Life and times:María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat was born in 1921 to a prominent Argentine family; a grandfather, Federico Lacroze, developed Buenos Aires' first tramway line, in the 1880s...
, the longtime Chairperson and chief stockholder of Loma Negra
Loma Negra
Loma Negra Companía Industrial Argentina S.A. is an Argentine manufacturer and the country's leading maker of cement, concrete, and lime.-History:...
, the largest cement manufacturer in Argentina. She set aside a significant portion of her extensive art collection for the purpose, and her foundation contracted internationally acclaimed, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an born architect Rafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly is an Uruguayan architect living in the United States.-Biography:He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Román Viñoly Barreto, and Maria Beceiro ....
for its design.
The building, a two-story modernist concrete, steel and glass structure, began construction in 2002 and provides over 6000 square metres (7,175.9 sq yd) of indoor space. Built overlooking the northernmost dock in the Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a barrio of the Argentine capital at Buenos Aires CBD, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city of Buenos...
district, among its highlights include a roof with a system of mobile aluminum awnings that open and close with the sun's position. Mrs. Fortabat specifically requested this last design feature, remarking that "I've always wanted to look at pictures and the stars at the same time."
The museum was inaugurated on October 22, 2008, and includes two exhibition halls, a library, an auditorium, offices and a cafe-restaurant overlooking the renovated Puerto Madero docklands. Its two exhibition halls house a collection of 230 works (at the opening date) and are divided into seven galleries:
- The Family Gallery: featuring portratits of the Fortabat family.
- Landscapes, the City and Tradition: consisting mostly of 19th century Argentine landscape, naturalist and naïf art by Fernando FaderFernando FaderFernando Fader was a French-born Argentine painter of the Post-impressionist school.-Life and work:Fernando Fader was born in Bordeaux, France in 1882. His father, of Prussian descent, relocated the family to Argentina in 1884, settling in the western city of Mendoza before returning to France a...
, Martín MalharroMartín MalharroMartín Malharro was an Argentine painter of the Post-impressionist school.-Life and work: Martín Malharro was born in the central Buenos Aires Province city of Azul in 1865. His childhood interest in painting led to domestic violence at home, from which he left for Buenos Aires in 1879...
and Prilidiano PueyrredónPrilidiano PueyrredónPrilidiano Pueyrredón was an Argentine painter, architect, and engineer. As one of the country's first prominent painters, he was known for his costumbrist sensibility and preference for everyday themes....
and Benito Quinquela MartínBenito Quinquela MartínBenito 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...
, among others. - International Art: including works by Pieter BrueghelPieter BrueghelPieter Brueghel may refer to:* Pieter Brueghel the Elder , painter* Pieter Brueghel the Younger , son of the above, a painter and copyist, also known as "Hell Brueghel"...
, Marc ChagallMarc ChagallMarc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
, Salvador DalíSalvador DalíSalvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Gustav KlimtGustav KlimtGustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects...
, Auguste RodinAuguste RodinFrançois-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
, Roberto MattaRoberto MattaRoberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren , better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art....
and, among others, Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, who created one of his iconic portraits for the patroness. This section also includes one of the few oil paintings from William Turner (artist)William Turner (artist)William Turner was an English painter who specialised in watercolour landscapes. He was a contemporary of the more famous artist J. M. W. Turner and his style was not dissimilar. He is often known as William Turner of Oxford or just Turner of Oxford to distinguish him from his better known namesake...
remaining in private hands, undoubtlessly the highlight of the collection, the wonderful Juliet and her nurse - Modern Art: Displaying mainly 20th century Argentine works, such as those by Juan Del Prete, Raquel FornerRaquel FornerRaquel Forner was an Argentine painter known for her expressionist works.-Life:Forner was born in Buenos Aires in 1902. Her father was Spanish by nationality and her mother was an Argentine of Spanish descent...
, Emilio PettorutiEmilio PettorutiEmilio Pettoruti was an Argentine painter, who caused a scandal with his avant-garde cubist exhibition in 1924 in Buenos Aires. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Buenos Aires was a city full of artistic development...
, Lino Enea SpilimbergoLino Enea SpilimbergoLino Enea Spilimbergo was an Argentine artist and engraver, and he is considered to be one of the country's most important painters....
, Xul SolarXul SolarXul Solar was the adopted name of Oscar Agustín Alejandro Schulz Solari , Argentine painter, sculptor, writer, and inventor of imaginary languages.-Biography:...
and Juan Carlos CastagninoJuan Carlos CastagninoJuan Carlos Castagnino was an Argentine painter, architect, muralist and sketch artist.Born in the city of Mar del Plata, he studied in the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, and became a disciple of Lino Enea Spilimbergo and Ramón Gómez Cornet.By the end of the 1920s, he became a member of...
. - Figurations, Halls I and II: set aside for Figurative artFigurative artFigurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
works, such as those by Roberto AizenbergRoberto AizenbergRoberto Aizenberg was a painter and sculptor...
, Antonio SeguíAntonio Seguí- Biography :Seguí is the oldest son of a middle-class and has three siblings. In the years from 1951 to 1954 he traveled through Europe and Africa, was visiting student at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid and at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris,...
and Clorindo TestaClorindo TestaClorindo Manuel José Testa is an Italian-Argentine architect and artist. He graduated from the School of Architecture at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in 1948....
. - Antonio BerniAntonio BerniDelesio 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...
Gallery: devoted to the noted Argentine painter and muralist.