Blog

Visit to the National Museum of Fine Arts

The National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana consists of two buildings, the Palace of Fine Arts (palacio de Bellas Artes), dedicated to Cuban art, and the Palace of the Asturian Center (palacio del Centro Asturiano), dedicated to foreign art.

The museum comprises over 40,000 art objects, undoubtedly the largest collection of paintings and sculptures in the Caribbean area and one of the largest in Latin America. You will find works by Guillermo Gollazo and Wifredo Lam, a friend of Picasso and a prominent figure of the 20th-century Avant-garde. You will also find the photographic exhibition “Moments of the Human Condition” by documentary photographer Peter Turnley.

The Havana museum houses the largest collection of Cuban art in the world and preserves various important examples of European art and ancient art.

The rooms are divided into: Colonial Art (from the 16th to the 19th century), with a room dedicated to magnificent landscapes.

Turn of the Century (1894-1927), with academic pieces where the emergence of modernism is evident.

Modern Art (1927-1938) and consolidation of modern art (1938-1951), with avant-garde pieces; Other perspectives of modern art (1951-1963), with mainly abstract pieces; and contemporary art (1959-today)

International Art: art collection divided into eight curatorial sections. It includes works from France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Asia, the United States, Flanders, Latin America, and Germany. There is also an ancient art collection that includes Greek, Roman, and Egyptian sculptures and artifacts donated to the museum by Dr. Joaquín Gumá Herrera, Count of Lagunillas.

The museum also includes a theater, with numerous cultural programs, exhibitions, concerts, and meetings, a library with more than 120,000 volumes, and the Antonio Rodríguez Morey Information Center, one of the country's reference centers for the visual arts.

Address: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Cuban Art), Trocadero, between Monserrate and Zulueta

Closed: Mondays.

Hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Sunday: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Ticket cost: 5 CUC (about 4 euros)