MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo

MASP is the most important museum of western art in the Southern Hemisphere

Its collection is listed by the Historical and Artistic Heritage - IPHAN since 1969 and currently has about 8,000 pieces, among which stand out Western paintings, mainly Italian and French. Thirteenth century to today, you can enjoy Raphael, Mantegna and Botticceli - the Italian school - and Delacroix, Renoir, Monet, Cézanne, Picasso, Modigliani, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Matisse and Chagall - Call School Paris.

It also has a large collection of paintings from the school Portuguese, Spanish and Flemish, and English artists and Latin American countries, such as Diego Rivera.Among the collection of Brazilian artists, stand out Candido Portinari, Di Cavalcanti, Anita Malfatti and Almeida Junior.

Among the sculptures stand out the marbles of the Greek goddess Higéia the fourth century BC and the collection of 73 sculptures by Degas, which can only be seen fully in the MASP, the Metropolitan Museum in New York or the Museum D'Orsay in Paris .Also highlighted is the Rodin bronzes, pieces of Ernesto di Fiori and Victor Brecheret, among others.

Collections of prints, photographs, drawings, archeology, majolica, tapestries and European decorative arts, plus a large collection of kitsch pieces, are also part of the museum.

At the invitation of the Museum d'Orsay in Paris, part of the "Club 19", which involved only the museums that have collections of European art from the most representative of the nineteenth century as the Orsay Museum in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York , The Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Zurich Kunstaus Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome and the National Gallery and Tate Gallery in London.

The museum has broadened its collection through donations from individuals and partnerships with companies and institutions.

The building postcard town
The headquarters building of the museum, with 11,000 square meters and divided into 5 floors with span of 74 meters, is an icon of the city of São Paulo. In 1982 he was overthrown by CONDEPHAAT - Defense Council of Historical, Archaeological, Artistic and Tourism and the State in 2003 by the National Trust - Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage.

Besides the museum, MASP is a cultural center that provides various activities to the public as an art school, workshops, dance performances, music and theater, lectures and debates, courses for teachers, among many other activities held throughout the year.

It is the most visited museum in Sao Paulo, with an average of 50,000 visitors per month (Data Folha de Sao Paulo, April 5, 2009).

History
Founded in 1947, the MASP was designed by Assis Chateaubriand, a businessman and journalist, and Pietro Maria Bardi, journalist and critic of Italian art. At first, he settled on four floors of the building of the Diaries Associates, Chateaubriand's empire consists of 34 newspapers, 36 radio stations, 18 television stations, and publishing that magazine.

The first works of art from the museum were personally selected by P. M. Bardi in Europe after the war, in his many trips to major cultural capitals with Chateaubriand.

Chateau as it was called, used his political prestige among large-business entrepreneurs the time to raise funds for the acquisition of works.

As St. Paul was then the big finance capital, mainly due to movement of money from the industries and coffee, it was decided that the MASP would be built in this city.

The new headquarters in the thriving Paulista Avenue, was designed by Lina Bo Bardi.Were 12 years of design and execution. Lina worked under a condition imposed by the donor of the land to the municipality of Sao Paulo, overlooking the City and the Sierra Cantareira would be preserved, through the valley of the Avenue July 9.

Thus was born the four pillars of the current museum with a span of 74 meters, was born one of the postcards of the city of São Paulo, was inaugurated in 1968. Modern and bold for its time, housed the museum's collection, already well known and respected in many countries through which passed during the years when the building was under construction, such as France, Italy, Japan, among others.

The inauguration of the new building was attended by Queen Elizabeth II of England, besides the greatest Brazilian authorities at the time and a great popular participation in front of the building.

As the building was designed by suspended two columns and the view of Paulista Avenue to the center of the city was preserved, designed a terrace below the building.Known today as "free will", was designed by Lina as a great place for children and families, with toys and many plants.

The columns of the building were painted red only in 1990 on the occasion of 40 years
the museum, in partnership with Suvinil, obeying the original design of Lina Bo Bardi.

Throughout its history, the museum was the starting point for other institutions such as the ESPM - Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, whose activities were initiated at the museum, art school, FAAP and International Film Festival, whose idea was also born MASP. The films show were shown exclusively at the museum in its early years.

In the 1997 reform, the building received a third underground floor, where it is today the technical reserve, modern space that houses the pieces while the collection are not on display.

In 2007, the MASP was reorganized his collection in four major exhibitions, the curator of the museum coordinator, Prof. Teixeira Coelho, celebrating 60 years of the museum.

The museum has offered to the Brazilian public, since its founding, hundreds of exhibitions of foreign artists and major international exhibitions through the exchange of works with several museums in the world and corporate sponsorship partners, and continuously displays the works of artists living in Brazil through a contemporary view of the current production of all art forms.

MASP, which since its founding has been a pioneer in Brazil in the spread of organizedcourses, service groups, workshops on study of art - drawing, painting, engraving, etc. -activities designed especially for children, established in 1997, nearly thirty years afterdisplacement of its first facilities in the city center to the headquarters of AvenidaPaulista, its the Education Department.

Designed to continuously develop and implement programs and special attention to visitors - children and young adults - the Education Department updates, through resources and specific methodologies, the ingrained and deep educational vocation ofmuseology in the MASP and teaching art in the country .

The commitment of the current team with the historical legacy of the institution and thepublic, continues in a contemporary way to the mission of the museum in this field.

Address:
Avenida Paulista, 1578 - São Paulo - SP

Phone:
(11) 3251-5644 / Fax (11) 3284-0574

Official Web Site:
http://masp.art.br

Opening Hours:
Monday: closed
From Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 6pm (ticket office open until until 5:30pm)
Thursday: 11am to 8pm (grossing up until 7:30pm).

Price:
Tickets for general public: R$ 15.00 (integer)
For students, teachers and retirees with vouchers: R$ 7.00 (half price)
Children under 10 and seniors over 60 no pay
Tuesday: free entry to the general public.

More Info:

Masp Store:
11am to 5:30pm (closed Mondays); Thursdays until 7pm.

UNI Restaurant:
Service Monday through Friday from 11:30am to 3pm: Buffet of salads, main courses and desserts to R$ 27.80.

Saturdays and Sundays from 12am to 4pm: Buffet of salads, main courses and desserts to R$ 28.70.

Telephone for reservation: 11 - 3253-2829 or by e-mail: masp@8arte.com.br

Cafe Nescafe MASP:
From Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 6pm
Thursdays from 11am to 8pm
Location: first basement, next to the shop MASP

Schedules:
To schedule group visits and schools, send email to agendamento@masp.art.br or contact by phone 55 11 3283 2585.

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