BEST MUSEUMS IN BOGOTÁ PART TWO
BOTERO MUSEUM
Museo de Botero is one of the most popular museums in Bogota, and Fernando Botero is one of the most famous Colombian painters. The Botero Museum is located in the Candelaria neighbourhood of Bogotá.
The museum was established in 2000, when the artist Fernando Botero donated over 120 of his own artworks and 85 pieces from his personal collection to the Banco de la República, which operates the museum out of a colonial manor house in the city’s historic neighbourhood of La Candelaria. The museum has a garden in the centre and a great view of Monserrate from the upper level. The museum is housed in an old palace, providing a beautiful backdrop for the art.
Fernando Botero’s full-bodied aesthetic can be seen in the form of fine artworks and large public sculptures in major cities and institutions around the world. His penchant for curvaceous subjects – men, women, children, animals and even bowls of fruit is cherished in Colombia and beyond.
Since the 1970s, Botero has also amassed his collection of historic masterpieces by seminal artists, including the French-Russian multidisciplinary modernist Marc Chagall, legendary Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí and Claude Monet, leader of the French Impressionist movement.
The museum’s east wing is where visitors can find many paintings by these artists, with works on view ranging from a 19th-century piece entitled Gitane au Tambourin by the French painter and draughtsman Camille Corot, all the way up to a late 20th-century oil painting by the Spanish contemporary artist Miquel Barceló. The excellence and expanse of Botero’s acquisitions place Museo Botero among the five most important public international art collections in Latin America.
More than 120 paintings, sculptures and sketches by Botero himself are exhibited in the museum’s west wing. The collection illustrates Botero’s visual lexicon, referred to as Boterismo, a style characterized by bloated subjects that reference and divide art history, yet also belong to the artist’s entirely unique personal aesthetic.
The museum’s collection was co-curated by Botero himself and donated on the condition that all artworks remain permanently in the space. There is also a cafe inside the museum that you can visit if you need a refreshment as you take in its beauty.
Opening hours:
Monday, Wednesday – Saturday 10AM – 7PM
Tuesday closed
Sunday 10AM – 5PM
Free admission
Audio guides are available in Spanish, English and French
Photos are not allowed on the third floor, which is where most of Botero’s work is displayed
Address: Calle 11 #4 – 41, Bogotá
Tel. (+57) 1 343 1316
Museum Location
Website
INTERNATIONAL EMERALD FOUNDATION MUSEUM
Colombia is one of the world’s most important sources of emeralds and the country’s mines have produced some of the most valuable and beautiful specimens of this gemstone. Emeralds can range in colour from pale green to deep green and are typically cut into various shapes and sizes. The most famous and valuable emeralds come from the Muzo, Coscuez and Chivor mines in Colombia.
Colombian emeralds were prized by the Spanish during their colonization of the New World.
Located on the 23rd floor of the Avianca building in Bogotá, the Emerald Museum and Foundation is a captivating space dedicated to celebrating Colombia’s renowned emeralds. With over 3,000 pieces in its collection, the museum spans 670 square meters/7,212 square feet and showcases some of the finest emeralds.
The Emerald Foundation Museum features a wide variety of exhibits that cover the different aspects of emeralds. One of the highlights of the museum is the Hall of Emeralds, which showcases a selection of some of the most beautiful and valuable emerald specimens from Colombia and other countries.
Rough emeralds
The museum also has exhibits on the geology and mining of emeralds, which provide visitors with an idea of how these precious gemstones are formed and extracted. Additionally, the museum has a section dedicated to the cultural significance of emeralds, highlighting their use in art, jewellery and their role in various historical and contemporary societies. The museum also has a section where visitors can learn about the cutting, polishing and setting of emeralds as well as the gemmological properties of the stone.
The museum also provides an interactive and educational experience for visitors. There are interactive exhibits that allow visitors to learn about the properties of emeralds and how they are mined, cut and polished. The museum also provides several workshops and classes, where visitors can learn how to identify and appreciate emeralds, as well as the science and art of cutting and polishing.
More than a repository of rare gems, the Emerald Museum and Foundation hosts educational programs and events, connecting art and nature to reveal the magnificence of Colombian emeralds.
By positioning Colombian emeralds as some of the rarest and most complex in the world, the museum underscores their natural beauty, geological significance and cultural heritage on a global stage.
Opening hours:
Monday – Friday 9AM – 5:30PM
Saturday 10AM – 5:30PM
Sunday closed
Entry via group tour only
Contact on website for tickets
Address: Avianca Building, Calle 16 # 6 – 66, Piso 23, Bogotá
Tel. (+57) 316 832 1180
Website
Museum Location
COLONIAL MUSEUM OF BOGOTÁ
Adjoining the church of San Ignacio, in a lovely 17th-century building known as the Casa de las Aulas, the Colonial Museum is an imperative visit for anyone with an interest in the colonial period in Colombia and Latin America in general.
It houses a beautiful collection of colonial-era art and sculptures, as well as interesting and informative plaques explaining the culture and history of the period. It was recently refurbished to make some presentations more interactive and modern.
Converted into a Museum of Colonial Art and laid out around a flower-decked patio, it now exhibits items that belonged to the region’s early colonists: a fine collection of vases, wooden coffers and silverware, as well as furniture of the epoch and paintings.
The museum has over 1,500 items in its exhibits, including paintings, textiles, sculptures, furniture, silverware, numismatics, prints and manuscripts. Highlights of the collection include works by colonial painter Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos. Among the pieces in the museum are his easel, paintings and drawings attributed to him.
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday 9AM – 5PM
Sundays 10AM – 4PM
Mondays closed
Free entrance
Address: Carrera 6 #9 -77, Bogotá
Tel. (+57) 1 341 6017
Email: museocolonial@mincultutura.gov.co
Museum Location
Official Website
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