The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires, Malba, is celebrating. This Friday marked the start of three days of celebrations for its 25th anniversary with major announcements. The most significant is the expansion of the museum’s collection with the donation of 1,250 pieces: 17 masterpieces of modern art and the entire Daros Latinamerica Collection. Behind the donation is the great patron of Argentine art Eduardo Costantini, founder and president of Malba, who initially purchased them for his private collection. With the new additions, the museum’s holdings now approach 3,000 works and strengthen its role as a global reference in Latin American art.
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The current collection is too small for a building inaugurated in 2001, in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, with 223 works. To be able to exhibit it, Malba will expand under Plaza Perú, adjacent to the museum, doubling its current area and reaching 8,000 square meters. The architect in charge of the expansion project, Frida Escobedo, conceives the project as a comprehensive transformation of the museum that will create “new relationships between the programs that made Malba what it is today.” The exhibition rooms will coexist with spaces designed for cinema, literature, education, and public programs. For Escobedo, it is also key that Malba gains “the space it needs to grow, while the plaza [Perú] will retain its character as an open and public space.”
Mexican and Brazilian Art
Among the modern art works donated by Costantini, the jewels of Mexican and Brazilian artists predominate. Among the former is Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait Diego and I (1949), Dance in Tehuantepec (1928) by Diego Rivera; Mexican Soldiers (1930) by José Clemente Orozco; Consumatum est (1942) by Juan O’Gorman and two works by the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington: Dagoberto’s Distractions (1945) and The Grande Dame (1951).
The Brazilian works added are Big Snake (1943) by María Martins; The Bear (1925) by Vicente do Rego Monteiro and two by the Italo-Brazilian sculptor Victor Brecheret: Modesty (1922) and Banjo Player (1925). From the Spanish Remedios Varo, Sympathy (The Cat’s Rage) (1955) and Harmony (1956) join Malba, and from the Cuban Wilfredo Lam, Omo Obini (1943).
The Daros Latinamerica Collection includes works produced mostly between the 1950s and 2010s. With it, 75 fundamental Latin American artists enter the Malba collection for the first time, and the museum expands the presence of formats such as photography, video, and installation. Thanks to the donation, essential figures such as Alfredo Jaar, Ana Mendieta, and Paz Errázuriz, among others, are incorporated, and the representation of countries like Colombia and Cuba grows.
A year ago, upon acquiring what was then the largest Latin American art collection in Europe, Costantini admitted that it was a purchase that disrupted the entire museum program and changed its needs and curatorial selection. “My greatest ambition is to never stop. An institution has to grow continuously,” Costantini said then.
A year later, this businessman who amassed one of Argentina’s greatest fortunes thanks to real estate business has reinforced Malba’s foundations with a trust fund with an initial capital of 50 million dollars aimed at guaranteeing its continuity. “I would like my greatest legacy to be that Malba remains over time. It is a great challenge because it loses four or five million dollars a year,” he admitted to EL PAÍS on Tuesday, on the eve of the museum’s silver anniversary.
At midnight on Friday, Malba organized a private party attended by artists, collectors, celebrities, and Argentine politicians. Hours later, the celebrations opened to all Buenos Aires residents. Admission to Malba will be free throughout the weekend, during which the exhibitions Viva Frida, with works, objects, and dresses of the famous Mexican painter; Latin America in Expansion and HELLO, Are You There? Argentine Art between the 90s and 2000s will open at Malba’s Puertos venue, in the northern outskirts of Buenos Aires.
DJs will perform on the esplanade in front of the museum, and the closing parade of the Argentine Haute Couture Week, founded and directed by Elina Costantini, will be held. The organizers expect thousands of people to respond to the call.