Discover a remarkable display of both national and international modern art housed in an elegant early 20th-century neoclassical palace.
Santiago’s Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Museum of Contemporary Art) presents a showcase of national and international art from the late-19th century to the present day. Discover a collection of around 2,600 pieces, including over 600 paintings in addition to sculptures, sketches, engravings and ceramics. Founded in 1947, the museum’s collection is largely the result of donations by national painters and foreign artists living in Chile.
Find pieces by the revered Chilean painters Roberto Matta and Pablo Burchard. See work by Latin American artists, including Argentine Emilio Pettoruti, Colombian Alejandro Obregón and Peruvian Fernando de Szyszlo. The sculpture collection counts around 90 bronze, marble, stone and terracotta pieces. A highlight is a bronze head sculpture by the late Isamu Noguchi, a critically-acclaimed Japanese-American sculptor and architect.
Don’t miss the museum’s collection of prints, sketches and engravings. Notable artists represented include Friedrich Hundertwasser, a well-known Austrian printmaker, painter and writer. Photography enthusiasts won’t want to miss the work by national photographers Bob Borowicz and Claudia Bertoni in addition to Canada’s Cecile Boucher.
Take time to appreciate the museum’s building, a regal-looking neoclassical palace designed by the French-Chilean architect Emile Jéquier. The museum shares the building with the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts). Here you can see post-colonial paintings and temporary exhibitions featuring international artists such as Damien Hirst and David Hockney. Check out the building’s striking glass cupola, which illuminates the Museum of Fine Arts’ main exhibition hall.
You’ll find the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo located in Santiago’s Parque Forestal, which is a short 10-minute walk from Plaza de Armas. The museum is easily reachable via public buses and the metro. A hop-on, hop-off tourist bus also stops at the museum’s entrance. Other major city attractions nearby include the lively Mercado Central food market and picturesque Santa Lucia Hill.
The museum is open daily and there is a nominal admission fee. Discounted admission is available to students and senior citizens. The museum is free for all visitors on Sunday. Find full details on the museum’s official website.
