Secrets of Buenos Aires: the hidden gems of the Errázuriz-Alvear Palace
The architect Martín Marcos arrived at the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo with the deep desire to turn it into a place of appreciation of design. He confesses that it is a great challenge to ensure that the sumptuous ornamentation of the mansion that the Errázuriz-Alvear couple lived in coexists with the modern idea of design, where what he commands is function.
Few know what the imposing building on Avenida del Libertador hides, designed by René Sergent, the most renowned French architect of the early 20th century, and built over a hundred years ago. "The idea of the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo is to incorporate the dimension of design and make contemporary design dialogue with testimonials of decorative applied art. This is to the 18th and 19th centuries what design is to our contemporaneity. In this dialogue of Opposites appear new and disturbing questions. This museum wants to dialogue with contemporary times and highlight heritage with a modern, dynamic and motivating vision", says Marcos, passionate about the number of stories that this palace hides.
So transparent we can see through your briefs. https://t.co/nWGjFLrrrf
— Claude Taylor Mon Jul 29 22:48:08 +0000 2019
In the halls of the National Museum of Decorative Art, original works of the family are exhibited: from miniature portraits to imposing tapestries, including a peculiar painting by El Greco –perhaps the first of the series of six in the world –, a model signed by Auguste Rodin and made especially for the owners of the house, and a striking environment decorated in the Art Déco style, an avant-garde movement of the early 20th century, when the Errázuriz-Alvears lived in the house.
“They came from the Prado Museum to study the work and discovered that in this area you can see the stiff hands in a first layer and the lax hands that are repeated in the other 5 paintings of Jesus with the cross at slopes,” says Marcos.
The relationship between Matías Errázuriz and Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin made the model for the fireplace in the Great Hall. Errázuriz had already acquired pieces from who he was at the time one of the most avant-garde artists. She talked to him about designing the fireplace for the Great Hall, but the decorator discouraged that idea, as placing a creation by the “most transgressive artist of the time” would take away from the tapestries around which the hall was built. Another work by Rodin, Eternal Spring, attracts the attention of visitors. It is not just another sculpture, but a peculiar carving that generates tension due to how the artist forced physics.
The story behind the Art Déco room
It is one of the most unknown corners for visitors. It is on the first floor, on Pereyra Lucena street. Although the entire palace was designed and decorated by René Sergent, there is a corner that stands out from the rest. Matías Errázuriz Alvear, son of the couple, requested a license for his boudoir. Instead of respecting the typical 19th century style that runs throughout the house, he summoned the Catalan Josep María Sert, representative of Art Déco, which at that time was the most artistically avant-garde.
Photos and videos: Christian Beliera.
