The museum was originally opened in the family's home near
City of Buenos Aires the following year, however, and on May 25, 1922, it was re-inaugurated as the Museo de Arte Colonial. The founder remained at the helm of the museum until 1926, and continued to serve as curator on an ad honorem basis until his death in 1928. His son-in-law and fellow connoisseur of Hispanic art, Dr. Alberto Gowland, continued to add to its collections, and in 1943, the city bequeathed to the museum an eclectic Baroque mansion acquired from Martín Noel seven years earlier.[1]
Noel, a
French Argentine architect graduate of the École Spéciale d'Architecture, designed the mansion following his return to Argentina in 1914, and its construction was completed in 1922. He shared the residence with his brother, Dr. Carlos Noel, and graced the property with an Andalusianpatio
. Sold to the city in 1936, the mansion became the home of the Colonial Art Museum in 1947, and it was renamed in its founder's honor at that time.
Its patrimony was further enriched with donations from Celina González Garaño in 1963 (mostly silverware and paintings) and from her brother Alfredo in 1972. Other significant contributions included collections bequeathed by Ricardo Braun Menéndez (1967),
Fiat Concord (1970), Pedro San Martín (1975), Max von Buch (1978), Mario Hirsch (1983), María Alcorta de Waldorp (1997), the Angli family (2002), and from the estates of Mabel and María Castellano Fotheringham.[1]
The Chief Curator of the Louvre, Marie-Catherine Sahut, visited the museum in November 2009, and subsequently helped establish a joint studies committee with the renowned French institution.[2]
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