The Unrelenting Flame: The Intrepid March of the Collection of the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires

62 years after the foundation of the Museo de Arte Moderno, this exhibition celebrates the history of its legacy and the Museum itself. With 300 works of art by more than 100 artists, The Unrelenting Flame presents important compilations of works brought together over the many years thanks to the tenacity, labor and conviction of the directors, collaborators, organizations, artists and friends who are committed to building a home for the various contemporary artistic manifestations that are being developed in the city and in the nation. All of them were guided by a single desire: to recognize new developments and take a bold risk on constructing an avant-garde public institution in constant transformation, always allied with the artistic community in each one of its eras.

Squirru (1956-1962) as well as his successors Hugo Parpagnoli (1963-1971) and Guillermo Whitelow (1971-1974 and 1977-1983) persisted in giving the Moderno a collection of the highest quality works that represented the spirit of their time and managed to make the first acquisitions of works by Kenneth Kemble, Alberto Greco, Raquel Forner, Noemí Gerstein, Martha Boto, María Martorell, Jorge de la Vega and Aldo Paparella, among other great artists. Also, the Museum received generous donations that have shaped and made possible this collection, among which we must mention those undertaken by the Fondo Nacional de las Artes; the Ignacio Pirovano Collection; the artist Alberto Heredia, in 2000; the family of León Ferrari in 2014, and most recently that of Marta Minujín in 2015.

The works that are presented in this gallery also have another history to tell: that of this building, which was once the Nobleza Piccardo tobacco company. The architectural services were donated, in 1989, by the architect Santiago Sánchez Elía, María Luisa Bemberg and the Miembros Constructores, and in 1997, by the architect Emilio Ambasz during the directorship of Laura Buccellato (1997-2013), when the Museo considerably increased its space. Most recently, during 2017 and 2018, the Museo was the object of a final great reform directed by the architects Carlos Sallaberry and Matías Ragonese that marked a change of scale for the Moderno, doubling the exhibition space area, and opening new spaces integrated in a new circulation.

During these last years, the Moderno continues its interpid march. Together with the aforementioned donations, the Museum has reactivated – after 40 years – its historic program of acquisitions that allows it to be current and relevant. Hence, this exhibition narrates the history as much as the present of a museum that never rests, that was born to push the limits of art and go in search of permanent movement and transformation.

For this occasion, the Moderno will exhibit the following Argentinean artists: Julián Althabe, Carolina Antoniadis, Carmelo Arden Quin, Líbero Badii, Elba Bairon, Ernesto Ballesteros, Leo Battistelli, Luis F. Benedit, Gala Berger, Antonio Berni, Martín Blaszko ,Sofía Bohtlingk, Martha Boto, Fabián Burgos, Ricardo Carpani, Juan Carlos Castagnino, Luis Centurión, Elda Cerrato, Víctor Chab, Horacio Coppola, Victor Magariños D., Flavia Da Rin, Marina de Caro, Jorge De la Vega, Ernesto Deira, Juan Del Prete, Alfio Demestre, Germaine Derbecq, Mirtha Dermisache, Noemí Di Benedetto, Juana, Elena Diz, Casimiro Domingo, Lucio Door, Diana Dowek, Bruno Dubner, Tomás Espina, León Ferrari, Claudia Fontes, Raquel Forner, Ana Gallardo, Ricardo Garabito, Noemí Gerstein, Edgardo Giménez, Mónica Girón, Alberto Goldenstein, Norberto Gómez, Sebastián Gordín, Alberto Greco, Juan Grela, Graciela Hasper, Anne Marie Heinrich, Alberto Heredia, Alfredo Hlito, Enio Iommi, Guillermo Iuso, Fabio Kacero, Kenneth Kemble, Guillermo Kuitca, Alejandro Kuropatwa, Fernanda Laguna, Pablo Lapadula, Julio Le Parc, Martín Legón, Luis Lindner, Alfredo Londaibere, Raúl Lozza, Jorge Macchi, Rómulo Macció, Eduardo MacEntyre, Jorge Gumier Maier, Sameer Makarius, Tomás Maldonado, Pablo Curatella Manes, Liliana Maresca, María Martorell, Juan Melé, Marta Minujín, Eduardo Navarro, Luis Felipe Noé, Aldo Paparella, Dignora Pastorello, Ariadna Pastorini, César Paternosto, Marta Peluffo, Emilio Pettoruti, Duilio Pierri, Sol Pipkin, Rogelio Polesello, Marcelo Pombo, Liliana Porter, Alfredo Prior, Mario Pucciarelli, Federico Manuel Peralta Ramos, Emilio Renart, Carlota Reyna, Kasuya Sakai, Juan Manuel Sánchez, Rubén Santantonín, Cristina Schiavi, Omar Schiliro, Antonio Seguí, Luis Seoane, Aldo Sessa, Antonio Sibellino, Carlos Silva, Pablo Siquier, Xul Solar, Hernán Soriano, Grete Stern, Eduardo Stupía, Pablo Suárez, Luis Terán, Clorindo Testa, Silvia Torrás, Nicolás García Uriburu, Gregorio Vardánega, Miguel Ángel Vidal, Edgardo Antonio Vigo, Sesostris Vitullo, Luis Wells, Osías Yanov, Yente, Horacio Zabala.

Fundación Banco Ciudad Argentina is this exhibition’s official sponsor.

This exhibition is suppported by