- Museo de Arte de Ponce
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Museo de Arte de Ponce 
Exterior view of the museumEstablished 1959 Location Ponce, Puerto Rico Type Art museum Director Agustín Arteaga Curator Cheryl Hartup Website Official site 
Main hall of the museum
Museo de Arte de Ponce, or MAP, is an art museum located on Las Americas Avenue (PR-133) in Ponce, Puerto Rico[1][2][3][4]. It is considered the finest art museum in Puerto Rico[5]. It houses a collection of European art[2], as well as work by Puerto Rican artists. The largest art museum in the Caribbean,[6] it has also been called one of the best in the Americas[7]. The museum contains one of the most important pre-Raphaelite collections in the Western Hemisphere[8], holding some 4,500 pieces of art[9][10] distributed among fourteen galleries[11]. It is the only museum in Puerto Rico accredited by the American Association of Museums[10]. It was founded by politician and philanthropist Luis A. Ferré, and its current building was officially inaugurated on December 28, 1965.
Contents
Museum History
The project of the museum began in 1956 when Luis A. Ferré traveled to Europe. There he bought originals of various European art masterpieces, which encouraged him to start a project for a museum in the city of Ponce, his birthplace. With the advice of two experts - Julius S. Held, specialist on Rubens and professor of Art History at Barnard College and Columbia University, and René Taylor, art and architecture enthusiast and professor at the University of Granada, Yale, and Columbia - Ferré compiled a collection of works of art based on their value instead of their popularity.[12]
On January 3, 1959, Ferré opened the museum in a small house at 70 Cristina Street in Ponce, at what is today the Centro Cultural de Ponce (Ponce Cultural Center). Some of these original paintings are still on display in the current museum. As time passed and the museum gained popularity, the space fell short. Ferré then acquired a tract of land on Las Americas Avenue in Ponce to build the museum, and recruited architect Edward Durell Stone for its design. On April 23, 1964 the first stone was placed and the construction of the museum began. It was finished in 1965 and officially opened on December 28, 1965.
The building and architecture
"Puerto Rico has many marvelous museums but none combine magnificent collections with extraordinary architecture as beautifully as the Ponce Museum of Art."[13] The striking facade and interior was designed by renowned architect, Edward Durell Stone. One of the main features of the museum is its hexagonal galleries, which allow natural light to pour through its corners bringing a unique illumination to them. The museum has a total of 14 galleries, two gardens, and an amphitheater. The main entrance with its bifurcated ladders is another of the main features of the museum.
The museum's new icon is Pinceladas en Vuelo (Brushstokes in Flight), a monumental 28-foot-high aluminum structure by the acclaimed New York sculptor Roy Lichtenstein. The imposing structure, created in 1984, sits on the front yard of the museum. "It will be the largest public [display art] work in Latin America and the Caribbean." [14].
2010 Enlargement
The museum was closed from 2008 to 2010 while undergoing a $30 million renovation. It reopened in time for the celebration of its 2010 50th anniversary, on November 13, 2010, after a $30 million renovation.[15][16] In the meantime, the museum held exhibitions at an annex it opened in San Juan's Plaza Las Américas, and it is lend some of its best pieces out to traveling shows at fine arts institutions throughout the world.[17][18][19]
The construction work was both a renovation and an expansion, as it would ultimately also increase the size of the museum [20] by over 40%[21]. The $20-turn-$30 million renovation also included a new building to house a historic archive and a library[22]. The 37,745-square-foot (3,506.6 m2) annex to the museum’s main building houses new a educational space, a library specializing in art history, the Don Luis A. Ferré Archives, a laboratory for the conservation of artworks, a multipurpose room, an artwork storage area, museum shop, restaurant, and administrative areas.[10]
The newly refurbished and expanded facilities opened on November 13, 2010, with great fanfare.[23] The thoroughfare on which the museum is located, a major artery in Ponce, was also renamed the "Luis A. Ferré Boulevard" in honor of the Puerto Rican statesman and founder of the museum.[24][25]
The Museum
Flaming June, by Fredric LeightonThe Museo de Arte de Ponce houses the most important collection of European art in Latin America[26]. It has an important collection of almost 4,000 pieces of art that range from the 14th to the 20th century, Italian Baroque, British Pre-Raphaelite, Spanish Golden Age and contemporary Latin-American art.
Some of the artists whose paintings and works are exhibited at the museum are Peter Paul Rubens, Lucas Cranach, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Eugène Delacroix, and Sir Edward Burne-Jones, among others. The main masterpiece of the museum is the Flaming June, painted by Frederic Leighton. Ferré bought this piece for $6,000 in London, and it was his favorite[27].
The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, the final masterpiece of Sir Edward Burne-Jones is another of the main masterpieces of the museum collection.[28] The enormous painting was started in 1881 and left unfinished at the artist's death in 1898. Both Flaming June and The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon are currently on loan to Tate Britain while the gallery undergoes a two-year refurbishment.[29]
"Equally important is the Puerto Rican art collection, which ranges from the 18th century to the present day and includes great masters such as José Campeche, Francisco Oller, Miguel Pou, as well as the best contemporary talent such as Myrna Báez, Francisco Rodón, Antonio Martorell and Arnaldo Roche Rabell, among others." [30]
The museum has also housed several expositions of some of the best and most renowned artists of the world. In March 2006, the museum exhibited the work of renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
The Museum charges a small admission fee to the public, but most revenues come from substantial donations made by Puerto Rican individuals and business. Some have made single donations for the sole purpose of acquiring art to be exhibited in the museum, while others donate for the maintenance and operational expenditures of the museum. A bronze plaque placed in the front entrance and next to the information booth recognizes these donors.
Gallery
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Main Exterior View
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Another Exterior View
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Night view of the former entrance and one of the upper level galleries
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The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon (detail) by Edward Burne-Jones
References
- ^ The Puerto Rico Channel. Discover Ponce's NeoClassical Buildings and Museums. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
- ^ a b Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Ven al Sur, page 20. San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2003.
- ^ Que Pasa!, Oct-Nov 2004, page 80. The Puerto Rican Tourism Company, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- ^ TravelPonce.com Top Five Ponce Attractions.
- ^ Offbeat Travel. Pleasures of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
- ^ Business Line: Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications. A Rich Port, Literally! April 15, 2002.
- ^ Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce en sus Dimensiones, page 2. Jorge Ariel Torres, editor, page 13.
- ^ Welcome to Puerto Rico. Ponce. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
- ^ [http://www.periodicolaperla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1819:proxima-la-reapertura-del-museo-de-arte-de-ponce&catid=119:articulos&Itemid=342 Periodico La Perla. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 15 October 2010. A punto de caramelo el Museo de Arte. By Lissette González.]Retrieved October 15, 2010.
- ^ a b c MAP 2007 Annual Report Retrieved June 10, 2009.
- ^ Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Puerto Rico FLy and Drive map.
- ^ Celia Quartermain. King Arthur Comes Home: How a key Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painting by Edward Burne-Jones Ended up on a Caribbean Island. NewStatesman. April 14, 2008. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
- ^ Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Museo de Arte de Ponce, Estado Libre Asociado De Puerto Rico. Compañia de Turismo. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003.
- ^ A punto de caramelo el Museo de Arte. By Lissette González. Periodico La Perla del Sur.
- ^ [http://www.periodicolaperla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1819:proxima-la-reapertura-del-museo-de-arte-de-ponce&catid=119:articulos&Itemid=342 Periodico La Perla. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 15 October 2010. A punto de caramelo el Museo de Arte. By Lissette González.]Retrieved October 15, 2010.
- ^ In Transit; Art Museum Reopens After Major Expansion.Paola Singer. The New York Times. Travel Section. December 5, 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ The New York Times, June 7, 2009.
- ^ Phoenix Art Museum
- ^ Greenwich (CT) Art Museum
- ^ Museum Being Expanded
- ^ MAP: Informe Anual 2008
- ^ $20M Expansion
- ^ Con apertura este domingo: Se reinventa el Museo de Arte de Ponce. By Jason Rodríguez Grafal. Periodico La Perla del Sur. Week of November 10-17, 2010. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
- ^ Buenos Señora Alcaldesa...Ponce: Maria "Mayita" Melendez Altieri. Nombre de Luis A. Ferré a avenida ponceña. By Darisabel Texidor Guadalupe. La Perla del Sur (printed edition). Ponce, Puerto Rico. 11 November 2010. (Week of November 11-17, 2010.) "Panorama." Page 47.
- ^ Bautizan el Bulevar Luis Alberto Ferré. By Ana María Rolón Romero. Periodico La Perla del Sur. Week of November 10-17, 2010. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
- ^ Explore Beyond the Shore: Stare in Awe at Our Masterpieces, Estado Libre Asociado De Puerto Rico. Compañia de Turismo. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2003.
- ^ Flaming June Retrieved June 10, 2009.
- ^ New Statesman "King Arthur comes home"
- ^ The Guardian; "Pre-Raphaelite painting of Arthur returns"
- ^ UNESCO
External links
Coordinates: 18°0′14.6514″N 66°37′1.056″W / 18.004069833°N 66.61696°W
Categories:- Art museums in Puerto Rico
- Museums established in 1959
- Buildings and structures completed in 1965
- Modernist architecture
- Museums in Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Institutions accredited by the American Association of Museums
- Edward Durell Stone buildings
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