Impressionism and the Rise of Art Collecting in Buenos Aires with Dr. María Isabel Baldasarre
- Region: East of England
- Type: Talk
- Cost: Free
Buying Modern: Impressionism and the Rise of Art Collecting in Buenos Aires — with Dr. María Isabel Baldasarre
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 12:00 pm ET (18:00 CET)
Register here: https://bit.ly/49IE6fb
Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Buenos Aires saw the emergence of a vibrant market for Impressionist and modern European art—well before the consolidation of local museums and cultural institutions. This talk explores how private collectors, drawn to the latest trends from abroad, played a key role in shaping that market. The city’s booming bourgeoisie, fueled by economic prosperity and a desire for cultural refinement, became an ideal clientele for European art dealers, who quickly recognized the potential of Buenos Aires as a thriving destination for modern art sales. Foreign contemporary art, in its various modern expressions, entered private homes, satisfying the tastes of an elite eager to align itself with international currents. Many of these collections would later be dispersed through auctions, while others became the foundation of major public collections—most notably the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, founded in 1895.
María Isabel Baldasarre is an art historian and researcher at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), and Full Professor in the Master’s Program in Art History at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM). She holds a Ph.D. and a B.A. in Art History from the University of Buenos Aires, and a National Professorate in Sculpture from the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts.
She has held research fellowships at the Getty Research Institute, the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA) in Paris, the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, and the Clark Art Institute. She was also the academic coordinator of the Catalogue Raisonné of the collection of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, published in 2010. She is the author of the books “Los dueños del arte” (2006) and “Bien vestidos. Una historia visual de la moda en Buenos Aires (1870–1914)” (2021).