In 1954, a small group of 25 entrepreneurs and intellectuals formed an association called the Patronato de las Artes, driven by the desire to promote culture and art in Peru. Their main objective was to establish an art museum in the country to fill one of the major cultural gaps that existed at the time.
In support of this initiative, the Municipality of Lima granted the Patronato de las Artes the use of the former Palacio de la Exposición that same year. With the support of UNESCO, architect Hans Asplund and museologist Alfred Westholm developed the first modern museum project in Peru, in collaboration with architects Héctor Velarde and José García Bryce.
The initial phase of the building’s restoration—supported by the Peruvian government and the French government—was inaugurated in 1957 with a major exhibition dedicated to French industry and culture. Finally, on March 10, 1961, the Museo de Arte de Lima was officially inaugurated. President Manuel Prado, on behalf of the Prado and Peña Prado families, presented the Patronato with the valuable donation known as the Memoria Prado, a collection assembled in the early 20th century by the distinguished intellectual Javier Prado y Ugarteche. This legacy enabled the Patronato to envision a panoramic view of Peruvian art from the Pre-Columbian period to the early 20th century, and it continues to form the core of the museum’s collection today.
Mision of the Patronato de las Artes, 1954
Main objectives defined in the founding Statute of the Patronato de las Artes:
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To inventory and scientifically catalog the artistic heritage existing in the country that has not yet been documented through official means.
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To organize in Peru, according to contemporary standards, one or more functional museums to house both the Patronato’s own collections and visiting exhibitions, within a permanent and dynamic framework designed to attract, educate, and delight the general public in matters related to the fine arts.
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To promote courses, workshops, and lectures deemed technically advisable for training qualified professionals in the practical aspects of the arts, as well as for instructing and engaging the public.
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To organize libraries and publicity or dissemination materials aligned with the cultural purposes of the Patronato.
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To sponsor the international exchange of scholarship recipients in artistic disciplines.
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To periodically promote competitions in all branches of the fine arts, establish the Annual Salon of Visual Arts, and organize annual exhibitions of folk art.
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To advocate before Congress and public authorities for the enactment of laws and regulations that encourage and protect the contributions made by patrons and collectors to the Patronato.
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To provide technical assistance to the State and official institutions for commissions or assignments that may be entrusted to the Patronato and which it is qualified to carry out.
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To eventually organize an annual Fine Arts Festival, bringing together national and international artists in a chosen time and place to celebrate this significant event — a festival intended to become a focal point and attraction for international tourism.
Alfredo Alvarez Calderón Roel (+)
Jorge Basadre Grohman (+)
Jaime Bayly Gallagher (+)
Myriam Kropp de Beltrán (+)
Fernando Berckemeyer Pazos (+)
Manuel Cisneros Sánchez (+)
Héctor García Ribeyro (+)
Signe Gildemeister Becker (+)
Mariano Iberico Rodríguez (+)
José Antonio de Lavalle y García (+)
José Juan Landázuri Ricketts (+)
Aurelio Miró Quesada Sosa (+)
Alejandro Miró Quesada Garland (+)
Francisco Moncloa Fry (+)
Miguel Mujica Gallo (+)
Carlos Neuhaus Ugarteche (+)
Pedro de Osma Gildemeister (+)
Mariano Peña Prado (+)
Raúl Porras Barrenechea (+)
Javier Prado Heudebert (+)
Jorge Remy Barúa (+)
Ricardo Rivera Schreiber (+)
Waldemar Schroder Mendoza (+)
Manuel Solari Swayne (+)
Héctor Velarde Bergman (+)
Alcázar Uzátegui, Rafael
Andrade de Lucio, Armando
Añaños Jeri, Carlos
Arias de Sologuren, Eva
Aspillaga Banchero, Luis Antonio
Barreda Lagravere, Víctor Felipe (+)
Barreda Zegarra, Alfredo
Basadre Brazzini, Jorge
Bayly Llona, Walter
Belaunde de Forsyth, Ana
Belmont Graña, Daniela
Benavides Ganoza, Roque
Benavides de Morales, Blanca
Benavides Workman, Annick
Boza Dibos, Ana Beatriz
Brescia Moreyra, Pedro
Briceño Villena, Ricardo
Bryce Cisneros, Alexandra
Burga Rivera, César
Bustamante Canny, Alfonso
Bustamante Romero, Ignacio
Bustamante y Bustamante, José Alfonso
Calda Giuratorita, Elena María
Carleton-Smith, Craig
Chopitea Barreda, Gustavo
Clemens de Kempeneer de Briceño, Muriel
Cohen Grimberg, Jack
Conroy Lanatta de Marsano, Maria Teresa
Custer Hallett, Felipe
Dammert Marcos, Carlos
Dañino Zapata, Roberto
De Bracamonte, Gálvez Ana María
De Ferrari Brignole, Carlo A.
De Izcue Bazo de Isola, Adela Armida
De la Puente Wiese, Clotilde
De La Puente Wiese, Lucía
De La Puente Wiese, Caridad
De La Puente Wiese, Susana
De La Torre de La Piedra, Diego
Durand Neuhaus de Thorndike, Talia
Elias Dupuy, Isabel
Farah Giha, Mónica
Fernandini Bohlin, Petrus
Fisher Tudela, Juan Carlos
Fort Brescia, Alex
Fort Brescia, Bernardo
Fort Brescia, Rosi
Fort Brescia, Viviane
García Miro Peschiera, Alfonso
Goldenberg Schreiber, Efraín
Graña Acuña, Antonio
Graña Taboada, Santiago Pablo
Grimberg Blum, Michael
Hume Hurtado, María Jesús
Inurritegui Parodi, María Teresa
Isola de La Peña, Juan Bautista
Ivcher Even, Michal
Kecskemethy Daranyi, Nicolás
Lemor Bezdin, Jack
Lerner Rizo Patrón, Pedro
Li Perez, Gonzalo
Lindley Suarez, Julie
Lizarraga Guthertz, Patricia Silvia
Llosa Barber, Reynaldo A. (+)
Llosa Larrabure, Carlos
Luna de Testino, Ítala
Majluf Brahim, José Antonio
Majluf Brahim, Verónica
Majluf Brahim, Natalia
Mariátegui Ezeta, José-Carlos
Marsano Conroy, Verónica
Marsano Soto, Carlos
Mayo Frid, Nissim
Miro Quesada Arias, María Del Carmen
Miro Quesada Dulanto, Isabel
Miro Quesada Valega, Luis José
Mufarech Biban, Alia
Mulder Panas, Catherine
Mulder Panas, Jan
Nadal del Carpio, Humberto
Neuhaus Tudela, Carlos
Nicolini de La Puente, Miguel
Ocampo Vda de Moreyra, Ana María
Oganes Oblitas, Luis
Orlic Vda. de Delgado, Maritza
Ortiz de Zevallos Madueño, Felipe
Osterling Letts, Madeleine
Otero Bossano, Raúl
Palacios Rey, Carlos Enrique
Pasco Font Quevedo, Alberto
Peña de Cárdenas, José Ignacio
Perelman Zelter, Benjamín
Persivale Serrano de Rodríguez Pastor, Carmen Haydee
Picasso Salinas, Jorge
Prado Pastor, Ignacio
Quesada Lagarrigue, Fortunato (+)
Rebaza Torres, Alberto
Rehder Remy, Bernardo (+)
Rizo Patron Boylan de Lerner, Rosemary
Roca Mendenhall, Juan Xavier
Roca Mora, Adriana
Roca Rey Miro Quesada, Bernardo (+)
Rodrigo Mazure, Luis Carlos (+)
Rodríguez Larraín Salinas, Emilio
Rosselló Puga, Diego
Sandoval Aguirre, Cesar
Seminario de Quesada, Cristina (+)
Stern Deutsch Vda. de Barbosa, Silvia
Suarez de Lindley, María Julia
Temple Arciniega, Inés
Ucovich Dorsner, Ivo
Valdez Ferrand, Napoleón
Valentín Coquis, Jaime
Verme Giannoni, Juan Carlos
Von Wedemeyer Knigge, Andreas
Miembros Natos
Alcalde Metropolitano de Lima
Arzobispo de Lima y Primado del Perú
Ministro de Cultura del Perú