Founded in 1918, the Museum of Art of Bahia It is considered the oldest museum in the city and features paintings by masters of Bahian sacred art, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as José Joaquim da Rocha and his disciple, José Theófilo.
The Bahia Art Museum (MAB), initially called the State Museum, was the first public museum space in Bahia, created on July 23, 1918.
Its collection is composed, essentially, by the meeting of two collections organized in Bahia from the XNUMXth century: that of Jonathas Abbot and that of Goés Calmon.
The first comprises works by European painters from the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries and Bahian painters from the XNUMXs.
Later, it was enriched with paintings by Bahian masters of the 1943th century. The collection of former governor Góes Calmon, acquired by the State of Bahia in XNUMX, brings together pieces of furniture from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, oriental porcelain, crystal, typically Bahian jewelry and religious sculptures.
The Museu de Arte da Bahia also houses a documentary collection, consisting of photographs, postcards, letters, invitations and maps of great historical value. Its collection has been developed over the years, with new acquisitions and donations, currently totaling around 15.000 pieces.
Video about the Bahia Art Museum
Museum of Art of Bahia
The museum stands out as an active cultural facility. In addition to having a vast collection, it enables multiple activities, such as temporary exhibitions, conferences, music recitals, theater plays and a reading club, seeking to reach a diverse audience and, consequently, a greater democratization of the space.
Established according to the model of an encyclopedic museum, under the name of the State Museum, the institution emerged as a repository of the historical, ethnographic and scientific heritage of Bahia, gradually specializing in the following decades as a museum space devoted to the visual and decorative arts.
The Palácio da Vitória, currently the headquarters of the Museu de Arte da Bahia, is located on Avenida Sete de Setembro, in the stretch known as “Corredor da Vitória”, in the homonymous neighborhood of Salvador.
The site is a prominent area in the city for having housed, until the mid-XNUMXth century, mansions belonging to traditional families of Bahian society.
In the internal spaces of the two floors of the building, the decoration in tiles stands out. The hall on the ground floor is lined with ashlar blue and white tiles from the XNUMXth century.
Scattered around the hall, there is a series of marble statues, including four allegorical works of the seasons, which originally decorated the balustrade of the Municipal Square, on the outskirts of Elevador Lacerda.
The auditorium is lined with neoclassical tile panels, probably made by the Real Fábrica do Rato in Lisbon, representing oval medallions with landscapes and bucolic scenes surrounded by garlands, in addition to other yellow and white tile panels, from the Fábrica das Devesas in Porto , also from the XNUMXth century.
The boardroom is decorated with XNUMXth-century Portuguese tile panels in a “carpet” pattern, in yellow, blue and white.
It has a collection of approximately 5 works of great historical and artistic value, formed through the combination of various collections organized in Bahia since the mid-nineteenth century, such as Jonathas Abbott and Góis Calmon, both acquired by the Bahian government.
The collection includes paintings by the Bahian school and by foreign artists, dating from the XNUMXth century onwards, imagery from the colonial period and a wide range of decorative arts, with Brazilian, European and Oriental pieces.
It also has a rich documentary collection, consisting of photographs, maps, correspondence, etc.
In recent decades, the collection expansion policy developed by the museum's successive administrations has sought to fill significant gaps in the painting, sculpture and decorative arts collections, notably with regard to the XNUMXth-century Bahian painting nucleus, as well as to introduce new collection centers.
In this sense, the collection of textiles and clothing stands out, whose development was greatly encouraged thanks to the increase in donations that followed a temporary exhibition on children's clothing, held at the museum in the 1990s.
The space is equipped with a specialized library, with around 12 books, and an auditorium.
The MAB hosts permanent and temporary exhibitions and organizes multiple cultural activities, such as courses, conference cycles, musical performances and film screenings.
See some of the artworks at the Museu de Arte da Bahia
Check Museums in Salvador that keep varied collections
Museum of Art of Bahia
Schedules) Tuesday to Friday, 13pm to 19pm; Saturday and Sunday, 14 pm to 19 pm.
Telephone (71) 3117-6902
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