National Museum of Decorative Arts, Buenos Aires

The National Museum of Decorative Arts (Spanish: Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo) is a repository of European and Asian sculpture artifacts and paintings. It is housed in a building once owned by the Argentine ambassador to France.

The museum is housed in the ornate neoclassical mansion that once belonged to Matias Erazurriz and his wife Josefina de Alvear whose grandfather Carlos Maria de Alvear was an Argentine independence-era leader. It was designed in 1911 by French architect Rene Sergent and completed in 1916. The couple decorated the building with their vast collection of art and artifacts. Matias Erazurriz donated the building to the government to establish a museum after the death of his wife in 1935 and the present museum opened its doors in 1937. The museum plays host to choral concert performances and houses the Argentine Academy of Letters, an organization established in 1944 for research and development of the Spanish language.

The museum has twelve exhibition halls with nine permanent collections. The 4000 works of art include El Greco’s Jesus Bearing the Cross Uphill, Edouard Manet’s Portrait of Abbe Hurel, the Deer Hunt by Alfred de Dreux, the Eternal Spring sculpture by Auguste Rodin and a vast collection of Asian art including crockery and cutlery, figures, miniature art and tapestry. The collection is also complemented by temporary exhibits, and the museum hosts regular choral concerts as well as classes and seminars.

Why You Should Visit:
If you're curious to see how the Argentine elite lived a century ago, this is your place.
Extensive, interesting in-house collection and very good rotating schedule exhibitions.
Downstairs guided tour is helpful to appreciate the many architectural curiosities but there are also descriptions of each room in English.

Tip:
Near the front entrance, there is a very good onsite café ('Croque Madame') for tea/coffee and light dining.