BUENOS AIRES AREA BY AREA - Argentina - page 82

e Museo de
Bellas Artes de
La Boca Benito
Quinquela Martín
Ave Pedro de Mendoza 1835. City
Map 1 F4. Te l [phone]. @ 29,
33, 152. Open 10am−4pm Mon−Fri.
8 by prior arrangement. 7 ^
∑ museoquinquela.gov.ar

The building that houses the
Museo de Bellas Artes dates
back to 1933, when famous
Argentinian artist Benito
Quinquela Martín (1890-1977)
donated a plot of land to the
nation. He stipulated that a
primary school, a gallery, and a
workshop be built on the site.
The museum assumed its
current form in 1968 when
Martín donated 50 of his
watercolors and 27 of
his oil paintings to be
hung there. The works
of other prominent
Argentinian artists
are also displayed,
as well as various
objects related to
the port's history.
Several of the terraces
of the building
hold works by well-known
Argentinian sculptors,
including Rogelio Irurtia and
Correa Morales. While many
Argentinian artists have been
associated with La Boca, which
is still a hugely popular
bohemian area, the name and
reputation of Benito Quinquela
Martín towers above them
all. His watercolors depict
everyday life as it once was on
and by the river, and the close
relationship between the artist,
his work, and his environment
is vividly evident in the La Boca
that he portrayed.

View of boats docked at La Vuelta de Rocha

q Puente
Transbordador
Nicolás Avellaneda
Ave Pedro de Mendoza, cnr Almirante
Brown. City Map 1 F4. @ 29, 33.

picturesque sub-barrio of La
Boca that claims to be the cradle
of the dance that seduced fin de
siècle Paris. It also lays claim to
an interesting history.
Given to the merchant
Antonio Rocha in 1635, La
Vuelta became a makeshift
port. It was here that
Admiral Guillermo
Brown assembled a
small but determined
navy to fight in the
Independence Wars.
Later it was the
disembarkation point
for thousands of Genoese
immigrants and the berth of
the Vapor de la Carrera , a
steamship that once sailed
daily to Montevideo and now
houses a quaint restaurant and
a colorful artisan fair. La Vuelta's
steamships and sailors are long
gone but the spirit of adventure
still lingers.

The Puente Transbordador
Nicolás Avellaneda is named for
the president who governed
Argentina between 1874 and
1880. Porteños famously refer to
it as “the bridge in La Boca's” and
it appears in numerous tango-
themed films as an evocative
icon of the city. Opened in 1914
by the Ferrocarriles del Sur
railroad company, it stands as a
reminder of the country's
prosperous grain-rich era.
This “transporter bridge”
looks as sturdy as when it first
opened, but it has in fact not
been used since 1940. Gondolas
were once suspended from the
bridge and towed across the
Riachuelo, taking people and
goods over the river to the
southern suburbs. This function
is now fulfilled by the adjacent
iron bridge, which, confusingly,
bears the same name.

The artist Benito
Quinquela Martín

w La Vuelta
de Rocha
Calle del Valle Iberlucea y Ave
Don Pedro de Mendoza. City Map
1 F4.

r Fundación Proa
Ave Pedro de Mendoza 1929. City
Map 1 F4. Te l [phone].
@

@ 29, 33, 152, 159.

29, 33, 152, 159, 168. Open
11am−7pm Tue−Sun. & 8 by

It is popularly said that truly to
understand tango you need to
loiter a while at this street on
the elbow of the Riachuelo river.
La Vuelta de Rocha (The Corner
of Rocha) is a grubby yet

prior arrangement. 7 ^ - =

∑ proa.org

Opened in 1996, the Fundación
Proa is housed in an elegant
Italianate building that dates

Display of wares at the crafts market at
La Vuelta de Rocha

For hotels and restaurants see pp278-83 and pp288-99