The MASP on the Avenida Paulista

To find the MASP you walk up the Avenida Paulista in São Paulo (Brazil). After some time - looking at the luxurious buildings with their reflecting fronts - you see a building on solid red legs. Standing in the water. It made me think of a huge reptile, without head or tail. A large open space under it's belly. Anything can happen there....  You have reached the Museo de Arte de São Paulo: The MASP.

It rains a lot in São Paulo….. So when we were there….. Go in the morning. The mornings are much better to see the outside of things. In the evening it will rain.  

The museum was founded in October 1947 by Pietro Maria Bardi together with the famous journalist Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand Bandeira de Melo, better known as Assis Chateaubriand or short; Chatô. In Europe. after the war, art was sold at relatively low prices because people needed money.

My friend Fernando Morais (the biographer of Paulo Coelho: A Warrior's life) wrote a book about this Chatô - http://www.fernandomorais.com.br/ (Excuses for the fact that some of the text's are only in Portuguese.- Please Brazilians add to the Wikipedia in English!) 

The interesting building that houses the MASP was designed by the wife of Pietro Maria Bardi, the architect Lina Bo Bardi. 

Up you go with the elevator to the entrance. How surprising this space with murals and red stairs. You are allowed to take pictures there. 

It is a sort of landscape with red components, totally different from the grey outside. Like a sculpture in red with some black accents and colorful murals. 

Even the space for children is part of this landscape. 

The 3rd floor where the exhibitions are held is different; more classic. No pictures there… It’s a pity because the collection is excellent. 

While we were there, there were three exhibitions: The most important – at least to my taste – was the exhibition of portraits I thought the exhibited collection was marvellous; varied and entertaining. There were works of: Renoir, Van Gogh, Modigliani, Rivera, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Frans Hals, Goya and Rembrandt.

There was another exhibition “Deus e Madonnas” Gods and Madonnas. A real good subject for Brazil. With works of masters of the 14th till the 19th century.

Finally there was the “Romatism: The art of enthousiasm”. With works of Bosch, El Greco, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Dalí, León Ferrari, Tomie Ohtake others

Brazilians in the last century looked very much to Europe for “Art”. This museum is mainly about the European art. Accept this and you will enjoy very much being at the MASP. 

More relevant links:
The Masp and Baldi
The building 1
The building 2
TV-Coop about MASP