Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP) is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

located on

Avenida Las Américas Avenida Las Américas, is a major thoroughfare in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Most of its length is signed as Puerto Rico Highway 163 (PR-163). The highway has both of its termini as well as all of its length entirely within the Ponce city limits. I ...

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

.Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Ven al Sur, page 20. San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2003. It houses a collection of

European art The art of Europe, also known as Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period betw ...

, as well as works by Puerto Rican artists. The museum contains one of the most important

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

collections in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

, holding some 4,500 pieces of artMAP 2007 Annual Report
Retrieved 10 June 2009. distributed among fourteen galleries. Museo de Arte de Ponce is the finest art museum in Puerto Rico. The largest art museum in the Caribbean, it has also been called one of the best in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. It was the first museum in Puerto Rico accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

. It was founded in 1959 by

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Luis A. Ferré at a location in the

Ponce Historic Zone The Ponce Historic Zone (Spanish: ''Zona Histórica de Ponce'') is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings, plazas and structures with distinctive architectures such as Neoclásico Isabelino and the Ponce Cr ...

. The museum moved to its current building location on

in 1965. In 2010, the museum increased its size significantly after a $30M expansion.

History

The project of the museum began in 1956 when Luis A. Ferré traveled to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and acquired various European art pieces, including many Pre-Raphaelite works, 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 Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

and professor of

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and René Taylor, art and architecture enthusiast and professor at the

University of Granada The University of Granada (, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apart from the city of Granad ...

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, and Columbia – Ferré compiled a collection of works of art based on their value instead of their popularity. Ferré would state in a ''Forbes'' interview that "the scholars and critics all called it

kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...

, everyone thought I was crazy to buy them." On 3 January 1959, Ferré opened the museum at a house at 70 Cristina Street in Ponce at what is today the Centro Cultural de Ponce, with an exhibit of 72 works of art. Some of these original paintings continue to be on display today. As time passed and the museum gained popularity, additional works of art were added to the collections. In 1962, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation donated 15 paintings to the museum. Fearing a fire in the Cristina Street building would destroy its collections, Ferré acquired a tract of land on Las Americas Avenue in Ponce to build the current museum, and recruited

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Edward Durell Stone Edward Durell Stone (March 9, 1902 – August 6, 1978) was an American architect known for the formal, highly decorative buildings he designed in the 1950s and 1960s. His works include the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City; the Parliament H ...

for its design. On 23 April 1964 the first stone was placed and the construction of the museum began. It was finished in 1965 and officially opened on 28 December 1965. One of the main features of the museum is its

hexagonal In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A regular hexagon is d ...

galleries, which allow natural light to enter through its corners bringing an illumination to exhibitions. The museum contained a total of 14 galleries, two

gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

, and an

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

, and its main entrance with bifurcated ladders. ''Pinceladas en Vuelo'' ("Brushstokes in Flight"), a 28-foot-high aluminum structure created in 1984 by New York sculptor

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

sits on the front yard of the museum, which was then considered "the largest public isplay artwork in Latin America and the Caribbean." By 1989, the museum's collection had grown to 500 pieces, with a then estimated value of $50 million, equivalent to $ in present-day terms. The museum was closed from 2008 to 2010 while undergoing renovations, re-opening in time for the celebration of its 50th anniversary on 13 November 2010, after a $30 million in improvements. In the meantime, the museum held exhibitions in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

's Plaza Las Américas, and loaned some of its best pieces out to traveling exhibitions at fine arts institutions around the world. The construction work was both a renovation of the existing structure as well as an expansion, increasing the size of the museum by more than 40%. The $20-turn-$30 million renovations also included a new building to house a historic archive and a library. The new annex to the museum's main building houses an educational space, a library specializing in art history, the Don Luis A. Ferré Archives, a laboratory for the conservation of artworks, an artwork storage area, a museum shop, a restaurant, and administrative offices. After the expansion, the total square footage of the museum came to 77,745 square feet. The expansion intended to provide facilities for educational purposes and an art history library as well as to provide room for a museum shop and a restaurant for guests. The

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way of transport, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. Originally, the word referred to a main road or open street which was frequented thoroughly. Different terms *Roa ...

on which the museum is located, a major road artery in Ponce, was renamed the " Luis A. Ferré Boulevard" in honor of the founder of the museum.''Bautizan el Bulevar Luis Alberto Ferré.''
Ana María Rolón Romero. Ponce, Puerto Rico. La Perla del Sur. 10–17 November 2010. Weblink updated 7 May 2018. In 2021, the museum was named as a recipient for the

National Medal for Museum and Library Service The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is an award given annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to American libraries and museums with outstanding service to their communities. The IMLS refers to the medal as " ...

Artworks

The Museo de Arte de Ponce houses the most important collection of European art in Latin America. The ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' of London states that the museum holds "one of the most distinguished private collections in the Western Hemisphere outside the United States." It has an important collection of almost 4,000 pieces of art that range from the 14th to the 20th century, Italian

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

, British

, Spanish

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

and contemporary Latin-American art. Some of the artists whose paintings and works are exhibited at the museum are

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

, Lucas Cranach,

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( , ; late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contempor ...

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...

, and Sir

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

, among others. The main masterpiece of the museum is ''

Flaming June ''Flaming June'' is a painting by Sir Frederic Leighton, produced in 1895. Painted with oil paints on a square canvas, it depicts a sleeping woman in a sensuous version of his classicist Academic art, Academic style. It is Leighton's most reco ...

'', painted by

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and clas ...

. Ferré bought this piece for less than $1,000 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 1960, and it was his favorite. ''

The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon ''The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon'' is a painting by the English artist Edward Burne-Jones, started in 1881. The massive painting measures 279 cm × 650 cm, and is widely considered to be Burne-Jones's ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''.Wa ...

'', the final masterpiece and crowning achievement of Sir

, is another of the main pieces of the museum's collection, originally acquired by Ferré for just 1,600 British guineas in 1963.Brown, Mark (15 April 2008)
"Pre-Raphaelite painting of Arthur returns"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', retrieved 4 February 2014 The enormous painting was started in 1881 and left unfinished at the artist's death in 1898. In 2009, both ''Flaming June'' and ''The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon'' were loaned to

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

while the museum underwent a two-year refurbishment. Other paintings were loaned to the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

in Madrid. "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 Miguel Pou Becerra (24 August 1880 – 6 May 1968) was a Puerto Rican oil canvas painter, draftsman, and art professor. Together with José Campeche and Francisco Oller, he has been called "one of Puerto Rico's greatest masters." He was an ...

, as well as the best contemporary talent such as Myrna Báez, Francisco Rodón,

Antonio Martorell Antonio ("Toño") Martorell Cardona (born 18 April 1939) is a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican painter, graphic artist and writer. He regularly exhibits in Puerto Rico and the United States and participates in arts events around the world. He ...

and Arnaldo Roche Rabell, among others."''Culture: Museo de Arte de Ponce: Exhibiciones.''
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. 2008. (''This webpage was "collected at the request of British Slave Trade Legacies using Archive-It. This page was captured on 11:26:44 Aug 16, 2008, and is part of the British Slave Trade Legacies collection."'') Accessed 30 January 2019. The museum also displays works by international artists. In March 2006, the museum exhibited the work of Mexican artist

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

. The Museum charges a small admission fee to the public, but most revenues come from substantial donations made by Puerto Rican individuals and businesses. 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.

Selected collection highlights

File:Frans Floris I - El despertar de las Artes.jpg, ''The Awakening of the Arts'' (c. 1560) by

Frans Floris Frans Floris, Frans Floris the Elder or Frans Floris de Vriendt (17 April 15191 October 1570) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print artist and tapestry designer. He is mainly known for his history paintings, allegorical scenes and portraits. ...

File:Antoon van Dyck - Santa Rosalía intercediendo por la ciudad de Palermo.jpg, '' Saint Rosalia Interceding for the City of Palermo'' (c. 1624-1629) by

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

File:Charles Mellin - Asunción de la Virgen.jpg, ''The Assumption of the Virgin'' (1630) by Charles Mellin File:Saint Lucas painting the Virgin-Luca Giordano-MBA Lyon A55-IMG 0374.jpg, ''Saint Luke Painting the Virgin'' (c. 1650-1655) by

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Early l ...

File:Antonio de Pereda - The Immaculate Conception - 1657.jpg, ''The Immaculate Conception'' (1657) by Antonio de Pereda File:Francisco Camilo - The Infant Jesus as Victor over Sin and Death - c. 1640-60.jpg, ''The Infant Jesus as Victor over Sin and Death'' (c. 1640-1660) by Francisco Camilo File:Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - La Inmaculada Concepción del espejo.jpg, ''The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary'' (1678) by

File:Matías de Arteaga y Alfaro - The Flight into Egypt.jpg, ''The Flight into Egypt'' (between 1660 and 1700) by

Matías de Arteaga y Alfaro Matías de Arteaga y Alfaro, also Matias de Arteaga, () was a Spanish painter and engraver. Arteaga was born in Seville about 1630, the son of the engraver Bartolomé Arteaga. He studied painting under Juan de Valdés Leal, Valdés Leal. His pa ...

File:Cristóbal Hernández de Quintana - Virgen de la Candelaria.jpg, ''Virgin of Candelaria'' (c. 1700-1725) by Cristóbal Hernández de Quintana File:Ford Madox Brown - The Coat of Many Colours - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Brown's Jacob and Joseph's Coat'' (1864) by

Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often William Hogarth, Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his mos ...

File:The Garden Court by Edward Burne-Jones in the Museo de Arte in Ponce, Puerto Rico.jpg, ''The Garden Court'' (1870) by

File:Dante Gabriel Rossetti - La viuda romana (Dîs Manibus).jpg, '' Roman Widow'' (1874) by

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

File:Three daughters of King Lear by Gustav Pope.JPG, ''The Three Daughters of King Lear'' (c. 1875-1876) by

Gustav Pope Gustav Pope (1831–1910) was a British Victorian painter of Austrian origin. He used several styles in his work, but in his mature style he showed influences of the second wave of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His work shows the influenc ...

File:Konstantin Makovsky - Escogiendo la novia.jpg, ''The Bride-Show of Tsar Alexis of Russia'' (1886) by

Konstantin Makovsky Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky (; (20 June o.c.) 2 July n.c. 1839 – 17 o.c. (30 n.c.) September 1915) was an influential Russian painter, affiliated with the " Peredvizhniki (Wanderers)". Many of his historical paintings, such as ''Beneath the ...

File:Henri Lebasque - Una joven en el bosque.jpg, ''Una joven en el bosque'' (1897) by Henri Lebasque File:Burne-Jones Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon v2.jpg, ''

'' (c. 1881-1898) by Edward Burne-Jones

References

External links

*
Museo de Arte de Ponce, at its former structure on Calle Cristina, now the "Centro Cultural de Ponce Carmen Solá de Pereira."

Museo de Arte de Ponce
within

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world, operated by Google. It utilizes high-re ...

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Puerto Rico Museums in Ponce, Puerto Rico Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums Art museums and galleries established in 1959 1959 establishments in Puerto Rico Edward Durell Stone buildings Modernist architecture in Puerto Rico Tourist attractions in Ponce, Puerto Rico Barrio Canas Urbano

History

Artworks

Selected collection highlights

See also

References

Further reading

External links