Museo de Arte Español Enrique Larreta
Encyclopedia
The Museo de Arte Español Enrique Larreta is a museum of Spanish art
located in the Belgrano
ward of Buenos Aires
, Argentina
.
, perhaps the most prominent Argentine exponent of Hispanic modernism
in literature, and Ambassador to France
from 1910 to 1919. Larreta made numerous visits to Ávila, Spain, during his tenure, and he amassed a large collection of medieval art
, armor, tapestries
, Spanish Renaissance
art, Spanish baroque
art and decor, manuscript
s, wood carving
s, and French furniture
, among other collections.
Larreta died in 1961, and his family sold his home and its collections to the City of Buenos Aires for its conversion into the Museum of Spanish Art. The museum was inaugurated in 1962, and named in his honor. Its collections were enriched further by the 1977 transfer of portions of the Isaac Fernández Blanco Museum of Hispanic Art
.
The former Larreta home, designed by Argentine architect Ernesto Bunge, and inaugurated in 1886, is a work of neo-Spanish colonial architecture, and features an Andalusia
n patio
measuring 6,500 m² (70,000 ft²) and connected to the house via an extensive portico
. The property was purchased by Larreta's mother-in-law, Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena, and given to the newlywed couple in 1903. Much as Martín Noël did with the property that later became the Isaac Fernández Blanco Museum, Larreta had the home expanded and refurbished along neo-colonial lines (restauración nacionalista, as the designs were known). Historical, as well as religious, designs were used, and the ornamented portal, for instance, was a copy of the entry to the Casa Basavilbaso (a former customs house which had earlier been demolished). Completed in 1916, these works were designed by Christian Schindler.
The extensive gardens feature ginkgo biloba, ombú
, wisteria
, cypress
, palm, bitter orange
, and silk floss trees, as well as buxus
hedges totaling around 700 m (2,300 ft). The museum also includes the Alfonso El Sabio Library, specializing in Spanish literature
, and La Casita de Arriba, a children's learning annex.
Spanish art
Spanish art is the visual art of Spain, and that of Spanish artists worldwide. Whilst an important contributor to Western art and producing many famous and influential artists Spanish art has often had distinctive characteristics and been assessed...
located in the Belgrano
Belgrano, Buenos Aires
Belgrano is a leafy, northern barrio or neighborhood of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Location :The barrio of Palermo is to the southeast; Nuñez is to the northwest; Coghlan, Villa Urquiza, Villa Ortúzar and Colegiales are to the southwest....
ward of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, 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 resulted from the purchase by the city of the Buenos Aires home of Enrique LarretaEnrique Larreta
Enrique Rodríguez Larreta was an Argentine writer, academic, diplomat and art collector.-Biography:Larreta was born in Buenos Aires to Adela Maza and Carlos Rodríguez Larreta...
, perhaps the most prominent Argentine exponent of Hispanic modernism
Modernismo
Modernismo is Spanish for modernism, however the term Modernism also indicates a more specific art movement:* Modernismo refers to a Spanish-American literary movement, best exemplified by Rubén Darío...
in literature, and Ambassador to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
from 1910 to 1919. Larreta made numerous visits to Ávila, Spain, during his tenure, and he amassed a large collection of medieval art
Medieval art
The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art history in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa...
, armor, tapestries
Tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
, Spanish Renaissance
Spanish Renaissance
The Spanish Renaissance refers to a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries...
art, Spanish baroque
Spanish Baroque
Spanish Baroque is a strand of Baroque architecture that evolved in Spain and its provinces and former colonies, notably Spanish America and Belgium....
art and decor, manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s, wood carving
Wood carving
Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object...
s, and French furniture
French furniture
French furniture comprises both the most sophisticated furniture made in Paris for king and court, aristocrats and rich upper bourgeoisie, on the one hand, and French provincial furniture made in the provincial cities and towns many of which, like Lyon and Liège, retained cultural identities...
, among other collections.
Larreta died in 1961, and his family sold his home and its collections to the City of Buenos Aires for its conversion into the Museum of Spanish Art. The museum was inaugurated in 1962, and named in his honor. Its collections were enriched further by the 1977 transfer of portions of the Isaac Fernández Blanco Museum of Hispanic Art
Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco
The Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco is a museum of art located in the Retiro ward of Buenos Aires, Argentina.-Overview:...
.
The former Larreta home, designed by Argentine architect Ernesto Bunge, and inaugurated in 1886, is a work of neo-Spanish colonial architecture, and features an Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
n patio
Patio
A patio is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a residence and is typically paved. It may refer to a roofless inner courtyard of the sort found in Spanish-style dwellings or a paved area between a residence and a garden....
measuring 6,500 m² (70,000 ft²) and connected to the house via an extensive portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
. The property was purchased by Larreta's mother-in-law, Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena, and given to the newlywed couple in 1903. Much as Martín Noël did with the property that later became the Isaac Fernández Blanco Museum, Larreta had the home expanded and refurbished along neo-colonial lines (restauración nacionalista, as the designs were known). Historical, as well as religious, designs were used, and the ornamented portal, for instance, was a copy of the entry to the Casa Basavilbaso (a former customs house which had earlier been demolished). Completed in 1916, these works were designed by Christian Schindler.
The extensive gardens feature ginkgo biloba, ombú
Ombú
Phytolacca dioica, commonly known as ombú, is a massive evergreen herb native to the Pampa of South America. The bush has an umbrella-like canopy that spreads to a girth of 12 to 15 meters and can attain a height of 12 to 18 meters . The ombú grows fast but being herbaceous its wood is soft and...
, wisteria
Wisteria floribunda
Wisteria floribunda, the Japanese wisteria, is a woody liana of the Wisteria family. It was brought from Japan to the United States in 1860 by George Rogers Hall. Since then, it has become one of the most highly romanticized flowering garden plants...
, cypress
Cypress
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...
, palm, bitter orange
Bitter orange
The name "bitter orange", also known as Seville orange, sour orange, bigarade orange, and marmalade orange, refers to a citrus tree and its fruit. Many varieties of bitter orange are used for their essential oil, which is used in perfume and as a flavoring...
, and silk floss trees, as well as buxus
Buxus
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood ....
hedges totaling around 700 m (2,300 ft). The museum also includes the Alfonso El Sabio Library, specializing in Spanish literature
Spanish literature
Spanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain...
, and La Casita de Arriba, a children's learning annex.