Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and walking...

Friday March 15 started out cloudy and a bit cool.  Alano did his first run in BA-- a blistering 8.3 km.  We walked to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, passing a small sculpture park near the museum.

Plaza Ruben Dario

Lots of green space in this part of BA

El Segador- Meunier Constantin 1831-1905 

We also passed a sign referring to the anniversary of the bombing of the Israeli embassy in 1992.

The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes was founded in 1896 and moved to its present location in 1933.  It contains over 9000 works of art of which about 500 are exhibited.  Admission to the museum is free.  The permanent collection has some beautiful impressionist works and an Old Masters wing with some wonderful pictures by Rubens and Rembrandt (the Hirsch Collection).   We had just missed a Caravaggio show, but were able to see the temporary exhibit entitled: Papeles Modernos de Toulouse-Lautrec a Picasso (Modern Paper: from Toulouse-Lautrec to Picasso).

Outside of El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Degas from the permanent collection

A Woman in Red- Edouard Vuillard

Eugene Delacroix- Personajes Orientales 

While I couldn't take any pictures from the Modern Paper exhibit, here are a few examples from the net.

Picasso- Painter and Model Knitting

James Ensor

Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat at Modern Design, a restaurant just behind the museum.  Lots of Ferrari paraphernalia.  We continued our walk in the upscale Recoleta area, checking out a huge Design Centre building with a lot of furniture stores.  We passed a beautiful church in amazing condition.

We also stopped at the Centro Cultural Recoleta where there were a number of exhibits in small rooms.  The cultural centre had been a Franciscan convent in the mid 18th century and then a poorhouse from 1858 until it became a cultural centre in 1979.   Two exhibits featured artifacts and photos dealing with the "disappeared".  Shot up houses and disappeared children.   Clearly the events of 1977-1983 are still very top of mind with Argentinians.  A lot of pain and unresolved issues.

We stopped for coffee at La Biela (connecting rod), a cafe that dates back to the late 1950s, a meeting spot of car racing champions as well as intellectuals, writers and politicians.  Just inside the front door are two plaster figures of Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) and Adolfo Bioy Casares (1914-1999), writers and friends.

Outside of La Biela

Borges and Casares

Inside the Cafe

Every chair had the wrench motif

We started our long walk back to the apartment.  Recoleta is a beautiful area with lovely stores and apartments.  We bought a bottle of Malbec at an excellent wine store and then discovered a great market with a mix of small stores and a supermercado.  We bought some wonderful beef from a butcher for dinner.

Wonderful buildings in Recoleta

The market with the shop where we purchased the beef

Outside a leather store

We got back to the apartment at about 8:00 and had a great meal.  The property manager had brought over a new router during the afternoon, so (fingers crossed) the Internet will continue to work.

Alano holding our new bottle of Malbec

This morning (Saturday March 16) as I am preparing this post, the sun is up and it looks like the temperature will get up to 20C.  The weather has been like early September in Toronto - great  for walking and exploring the city.