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Address:
PO Box 21908, San Juan PR 00931-1908
Opening Hours:
Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 9 h - 16:30 h
Wed 9 h - 20:30 h
Sun 11:30 h - 16:30 h
Closed Saturdays, on local and USA holidays, between exhibitions and during administrative/academic recess
Contact:
Flavia Marichal, director
fmarichal@uprrp.edu
museo@uprrp.edu
Phone: 787.763.3939 or 787.764.0000 x2460
Fax: 787.763.4799
Additional information:
Awards
The Museum has been awarded by the local chapter of the International Association of Art Critics for its exhibitions as well as its publications. Among the recently awarded exhibitions are Cultura Saladoide: Su Rostro Multicolor (2001 Best Exhibition Design), Lorenzo Homar: Carteles 1952-2002 (2002 Best Retrospective Exhibition), and Carlos Marichal, poeta de la línea (2003 Exhibition of the Year and 2004 Best Art Publication), Cultura La Hueca (Best Historic Exhibition 2005), and Autocontemplación (2006 Best Exhibition of the Year).
Links:
University of Puerto Rico - Río Piedras Campus
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Description:
The Museum of History, Anthropology and Art of the University of Puerto Rico was the first museum on the Island instituted by law in 1951 to "collect, maintain and preserve, for the purpose of research and cultural diffusion, all that which constitutes a part of our historic, anthropological and artistic treasure".
Generally acknowledged as a university museum, it is rather a national institution. Since its creation, the Museum has actively participated in Puerto Rico’s cultural development, encouraging the knowledge and appreciation of our cultural legacy through exhibitions, educational workshops, lectures, and publications. The Museum's permanent collection is comprised of important objects of Antillean archeology, paintings, drawings, Puerto Rican and International prints, sculpture, posters, folk art, historical documents, philately, numismatics and Egyptian archeology. Our Antillean Archeology collection is the most important and complete in the Caribbean.
The Museum was built during the infrastructure growth the University experienced in the 1950’s along other buildings, also designed by Henry Klumb, like the University Center, the Law School, and the General Library. The relationship of the Museum with the University of Puerto Rico has favored a dynamic programming, which echoes the Institution’s commitment to research and education. Through its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs, the Museum promotes the knowledge and appreciation of the cultural patrimony.
Additionally, the Museum’s Documentation Center stores a wealth of valuable documents for academic research on Puerto Rican art. The Museum has set standards for other museums and several generations of museum professionals, and has been a first-hand meeting point with Puerto Rican arts and culture for many visitors from abroad.
Further Reading:
Art Collection
The Painting, Print and Drawing Collection offers a perspective of Puerto Rico’s art development from the 18th century to the present, including works by José Campeche, Francisco Oller y Cestero, Lorenzo Homar, Myrna Báez and Rafael Tufiño. Among the most significant pieces of the collection is Francisco Oller’s The Wake (1893), which was donated by the painter to the University, and is believed to be his paramount work. The print collection gathers a generous sample of Puerto Rico’s exquisite graphic production from the 1950's to the present, complemented by a sample of European modern graphic arts from the 18th century until WWII, including works by Goya, Chagall and Picasso.
Archaeology Collection
It is the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world, gathering a large variety of key objects for the understanding of the cultural and artistic development of Puerto Rico’s main indigenous groups, such as the Archaic, La Hueca, Igneri (Saladoid), Ostiones and Taíno cultures.
Egyptian Collection
This collection comprises objects associated with funerary rituals of Ancient Egypt. The pieces that outstand the most are two human mummies, a mummified cat, and a wooden sarcophagus with beautiful multicolored designs and hieroglyphs inscriptions, donated in 1954 by the Peabody Museum of Harvard University.
Folk Art Collection
Contains 19th- and 20th century wooden santos and carnival masks from the Loíza Aldea, Hatillo and Ponce traditions, among other objetcs.
History Collection
This collection consists mostly of documents, such as memorabilia from Eugenio María de Hostos, Ramón Emeterio Betances, Segundo Ruiz Belvis, José Julián Acosta, José de Diego, Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, and Luis Muñoz Rivera. It also includes items such as day laborers’ passbooks, maps, antique weapons and books.
Philatelic and Numismatic Collection
This collection provides a wealth of materials that aid to reconstruct another aspect of the cultural and social development of Puerto Rico. It contains pre-philatelic “stamps”, postmarked envelopes and tokens used as legal tenders at 19th century coffee plantations.
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