The São Paulo Museum of Art (in Portuguese, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, or MASP)

Also over the weekend, we went to the MASP (pronounced Mash-P) which is a very famous art museum located on Paulista Ave. It's well-known for its acutal building, a 1968 concrete and glass structure design whose main body is supported by two lateral beams over a 74 meters freestanding space, considered an landmark of the city and a main symbol of modern Brazilian architecture.






Near the entrance to the MASP, we were stopped for a survey. This is Ben being interviewed (in Portuguese) by some university students. They were asking him questions about what he liked and disliked about São Paulo. He is so good!!

While the museum was very nice and had a great selection of artists works, we were both suprised by how small the museum was overall.

"Romantismo — A Arte do Entusiasmo" (Romanticism - The Art of Enthusiasm). The paintings of Bosch, El Greco, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Dali, León Ferrari, Tomie Ohtake (Paulista artist) and dozens of others show that the ideals of Romanticism in this exhibition.

The works are limited to 2 floors elevated above the freestanding space of the structure. You purchased your tickets under the building in the open air and then when you hand over your ticket for entry, you are escorted to the elevator leading to the floors above to see the exhibits.