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The Grand Tour of Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP) will
continue on April 6 with the opening at Phoenix Art Museum
in Arizona of the exhibition Masterpieces of European
painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce, comprised
of 60 of the most important paintings of the institution.
This show, which will also travel to Museo de San Carlos in
Mexico City, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the Frist Center
for the Visual Arts between 2008 and 2010, is representative
of all the European art schools that comprise the MAP collection,
such as the Spanish , Flemish, Dutch, Italian, French and
English.
Among the works available for the public to enjoy are the
triptych Virgin and Child with saints and donors
(late 15th century) by the Master of Santa Ana (active in
Brussels during the last quarter of the 15th century) and
The Crucifixion (ca. 1630) by the great painter of
Spanish baroque Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664).
Also on view will be Portrait of Martín Zapater
(1790) by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1790) and Lady
in Blue Satin (1873) by the Spanish scholar painter Rogelio
de Egusquiza (1845-1920), just to mention a few.
On another part, Burne Jones: The Sleep of King
Arthur in Avalon will open to the public on
April 15 at the prestigious Tate Britain in England. Dedicated
to one of the emblematic works of the museum, The Sleep
of King Arthur in Avalon (1881-1898) by Edward Coley
Burne – Jones (1833-1898), the show will also include
preparatory drawings. While, the most acknowledged work of
MAP, Flaming June (1895) by Frederic Lord Leighton
(1830-1896), will also be exhibited at Tate Britain for a
year.
The presentation of these paintings in England figures as
the first occasion in which both works are out of Puerto Rico
simultaneously since they were acquired by the founder of
MAP, Don Luis A. Ferré. Thereafter, they will move
to Museo Nacional del Prado in Spain to be part of an English
art exhibition organized by that institution.
Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (MAMBO) will house
19 sculptures from MAP collection starting April 22, as part
of the exhibition The Age of Rodin,
which during its stay at both venues of MAP was visited by
over 20 thousand people. Some of these works will be Portrait
of Claude Lorrain (19th century) and Apolo crushing
the serpent python (19th century) by Auguste Rodin (1840
– 1917).
Under the concept of The Grand Tour, which also served
as the theme of the past annual gala at the museum, the presentation
of the MAP works to an international level, began in 2006
with the successful My Puerto Rico: Master painters of
the Island , 1780 – 1952, an exhibition that caused
major excitement at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts
and at The Newark Museum. This traveling exhibition was complemented
by the opening last year of Passage to the present: Masterpieces
from Museo de Arte de Ponce at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
in Monterrey, Mexico. In addition it responds to the temporary
closure of MAP´s main venue from March 31.
After more than four decades, the temporary closure of MAP’s
main venue represents a high historical point which will allow
the transformation of the institution and the strengthening
of its physical space aimed for improving the services it
offers for the community. It is a part of the Project for
Renewal and Expansion, including structural reinforcement
of the existing building to make it safer against earthquakes
and to replace the entire security system, climate balance
and lighting.
The incorporation of advanced equipment comprised of security
nets against fires, surveillance cameras, security alarms
and fire detectors, air conditioning and moisture control,
will allow not only the stability and preservation of the
MAP collection, but also the improvement of the security system
for the public and the efficiency of educational services
and programs of the institution. Furthermore, these efforts
will provide the necessary infrastructure to optimize the
exhibition operation, and to preserve and restore near 4,000
art works. The initiative also pursues to expand the exhibition
area of the first level of the existing building to a 30%.
This last phase of the Project for Renewal and Expansion that
began in 2004, also contemplates the culmination of the construction
of a new structure of 37,745 square feet. It will also house
educational areas, a library, the Don Luis A. Ferré
archive, a new conservation laboratory, warehouse for the
art works, shop and restaurant.
The pause at the original venue of the museum does not imply,
however, the ceasing of operations at MAP. This, since all
the services for associates and the general public will continue
to be offered at MAP@PLAZA, the museum’s second venue
located in the third level of the central atrium at Plaza
Las Américas shopping mall
Museo de Arte de Ponce is a non-for-profit institution established
49 years ago at Ponce, Puerto Rico. Its mission is to serve
the public through the collection, conversation, study and
exhibition of traditional Western visual arts from the 14th
century to the present day. Museo de Arte de Ponce supports
the comprehension and enjoyment of art, its creators and environment,
besides heartening the interest for the cultural heritage
of Puerto Rico for the enjoyment of present and future generations
helping to improve the quality of life.
For further information, please call 787.200.7090 or 787.840.1510.
You may also call 787.848.0505 or visit www.museoarteponce.org.
General admission to MAP@PLAZA: adults, $5.00; children under
12, $2.50; students with ID, $1.25. Clergies, handicapped
and associates of MAP enter for free.
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Click on images
to enlarge
Auguste Rodin
(1840 - 1917)
Portrait of Claude
Lorrain,
19 th century,
bronze,
19 5/8 x 7 3/4 x 8 1/2” Collection Museo de
Arte de Ponce.
Fundación Luis
A. Ferré, Inc.
Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Photo: John Betancourt
Frederic, Lord Leighton
(1830 - 1896)
Flaming June,
1895,
oil on canvas,
46 7/8 x 46 7/8”
Collection Museo de
Arte de Ponce.
Fundación Luis
A. Ferré Inc.,
Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Photo: John Betancourt
Rogelio de Egusquiza
Barrena
(1845 – 1915)
Lady in blue satin,
1873,
oil on canvas
31 1/2 x 22 5/8 in.
Collection Museo de Arte
de Ponce. Fundación Luis
A. Ferré, Inc., Ponce,
Puerto Rico.
Photo: John Betancourt
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