Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana
In the capital city, the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana possesses two museums of recognized importance, which complement each other and belong. Its origin goes back 1938, when the National Museum is created, which was including varied types of collections and which from 1944 works in a colonial house located in the Historical Center of Quito, there happening in the same year to be assigned to newly founded Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, belonging later to the same one.
In the year 1951, one enriches the Institution with the buy to Mister Pedro Pablo Traversari of the collection of Musical Instruments, considered as the first one in importance in America, working his first exhibition in Casona Vieja located in the Av. On December 6 and Homeland.
It is in January, 1981, immediately after the end of the construction of the Building of Mirrors, along with the Old woman Casona, that the collections separate, specializing the National Museum in artistic objects of the epoch Virreinal (painting, sculpture, furniture, etc, of the XVIth to XVIIIth century), changing his name to " National Museum of Colonial Art ", with head office in the Historical Center, and moving the remaining collections (Painting of the XIXth century, of the 30s, Latin-American and Contemporary Art, Musical Instruments, etc.) to occupying the north area of the new building, being born the " Museum of Modern Art ".
In the year 2001 the Fund of Rescue of the Municipality of Quito, it takes control of the architectural part of two Museums, changing to him between other things the permanent exhibitions, showing him the piece of news museografia with a different conception of his image, there being modified the name of the Museum of Modern Art to Museum of Visual Arts and Musical Instruments " MAVIM ", for this epithet being considered to be an entity agglutinant that sums up the type of collections that it exhibits.
In the Colonial Art museum it is possible to appreciate to more of paintings attributed or signed of out-standing artists as Miguel de Santiago, Manuel Samaniego, Bernardo Rodriguez, and sculptures of Pampite, Caspicara, Legarda; one of the most important collections of furniture and the most extensive of miniatures, with exquisite heights, medallions and paintings of the XVIIIth, XIXth century and principles of the XXth, realized in tagua, coroso, ivory, and in many cases, with an exquisite policromia.
The Visual Arts museum possesses works of the XIXth century, signed by the most outstanding artists of the epoch and that understands portraits, anatomical studies and of movement, scenes writers of folk literature, sceneries, between others. The indigenismo realized in the 30s, of great social content, denounces the development of the Indian and of the social low strata, giving great expressive force to the areas of exhibition, with works of Oswaldo Guayasamin, Eduardo Kingman, Walls, Tiled, etc.
Address: Av. 12 de Octubre No. 555 and Patria.
Open: Tuesday - Friday from 10h00 to 18h00
Saturdays: from 10h00 to 14h00
Telephone: 222 3392
Services: Tour
