The López Museum and Library, also known as simply the Lopez Museum, is a Philippine

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

and

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

located in

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasig), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, i ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

at the ground floor of the

Benpres Building The Benpres Building (Tagalog: ''Gusaling Benpres''), originally known as the Chronicle Building, was a six-story Filipino modernist heritage building built in 1969 and inaugurated in 1971, located in Ortigas Center, Pasig. The building was des ...

, Exchange Road corner

Meralco Avenue Meralco Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare located in Ortigas Center in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines. It links Ortigas Avenue in the north and Shaw Boulevard in the south and borders the western edge of Valle Verde in Ugong. It is named f ...

Ortigas Center Ortigas Center is a central business district located within the joint boundaries of Pasig, Mandaluyong and Quezon City, within the Metro Manila region in the Philippines. With an area of more than , it is Metro Manila's second most important b ...

History

The López Museum and Library was on February 13, 1960, by Eugenio López Sr. It was among the first privately run museums in the Philippines and was originally housed inside a four-storey building designed by Angel Nakpil along Lancaster Street in

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 440,656 people. Due to its location j ...

. Initially founded as the López Memorial Museum, the institution was originally meant to be dedicated to López's parents,

Benito Benito may refer to: Places * Benito, Kentucky, United States * Benito, Manitoba, Canada * Benito River, a river in Equatorial Guinea Other uses * Benito (name) * ''Benito'' (1993), an Italian film See also * ''Benito Cereno'', a novella by Herm ...

and Presentacion López but shifted to maintaining a collection dedicated to Filipino heritage. Under its first curator,

Renato Constantino Renato Constantino (March 10, 1919 – September 15, 1999) was a Filipino historian known for being part of the leftist tradition of Philippine historiography. Apart from being a historian, Constantino was also engaged in foreign service, working ...

, the museum acquired the

Juan Luna Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta (, ; October 23, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recogni ...

painting, ''

España y Filipinas ''España y Filipinas'' (“Spain and the Philippines") is a series of oil on wood paintingsHonasan, Alya B"España y Filipinas" by Juan Luna, Into the 21st Century, lopezmuseum.org.ph by Filipino painter, Ilustrado, and revolutionary activist, Jua ...

'' which complemented López growing collection of

Filipiniana Filipiniana, or originally Filipiñana, based on the definition by Isagani Medina from "Collection Building: Filipiniana", in his ''In Developing Special Library Collections, Filipiniana: Proceedings'' (November 1992), are Philippine-related bo ...

books and maps. The López Museum moved to the

on April 19, 1986, with its previous building in Pasay later demolished. In 2012, it was announced that the López Museum would be moving to a building at the

Rockwell Center Rockwell Center is a high-end mixed-use area in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, named after James Rockwell, former President of Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (Meralco). It is a project of Rockwell Land Corporation, which is owne ...

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentratio ...

. However it was only in 2017, that the museum that the relocation process started. The museum was closed as part of preparations for its relocation. The museum's collection will be split in two locations: at the Eugenio Lopez Center in

Antipolo, Rizal Antipolo, officially known as the City of Antipolo ( fil, Lungsod ng Antipolo), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 887,399 people. It is the m ...

and a space at

The Proscenium The Proscenium is a high-rise office building in Midtown Atlanta, United States.Sams, Douglas.Carter's moving HQ to Phipps Tower" ''Atlanta Business Chronicle''. December 14, 2012. Updated on December 17, 2013. Retrieved on May 23, 2013. It is ...

at Rockwell. In May 2024, the museum announced that it would hold the first exhibition of its collections outside its premises at the

University of the Philippines Visayas The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV or UP Visayas) is a public research university in the Philippines with campuses and facilities throughout the Visayas. A constituent university of the University of the Philippines system, it teaches ...

Main Building in

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of ...

from November 2024 until April 2026.

Collection

The López Museum and Library is dedicated to housing artworks by reputed Filipino artists such as

, and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, memorabilia relating to Filipino national hero

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya * Jose the Gali ...

and

materials and publications.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Museum Museums in Pasig Art museums and galleries established in 1960 Biographical museums in the Philippines Art museums and galleries in the Philippines History museums in the Philippines Archaeological museums Research libraries Buildings and structures in Pasig 1960 establishments in the Philippines Libraries in Metro Manila