Casa del Arte

The Casa del Arte José Clemente Orozco, commonly known as the Casa del Arte or Pinacoteca, is an art museum on the campus of the University of Concepción in Concepción, Chile. Located at the corner of Chacabuco and Larenas, facing Plaza Perú, it houses the country's largest collection of paintings outside Santiago and the most complete collection of Chilean art, comprising approximately 1,800 works. The museum attracts around 75,000 visitors annually and serves as a major cultural institution for the Gran Concepción metropolitan area and the Biobío Region.

The need for an art collection was recognized from the university's foundation in 1919, initially as an educational benefit for students. In 1929, Rector Enrique Molina Garmendia proposed building a gallery, though the project gained decisive momentum in the 1950s through the efforts of Tole Peralta, a professor of art who arrived in Concepción in 1954. In January 1958, during the rectorship of David Stitchkin Branover, the university acquired more than 500 Chilean paintings from the philanthropist Julio Vásquez Cortés, an acquisition that transformed the institution into the principal holder of works by the Generación del 13. This collection had previously traveled within Chile and to Buenos Aires, receiving favorable critical attention including from Pablo Neruda and Carlos Isamitt. Construction of the dedicated building began in 1963, with the expanded purpose of exhibiting art to the entire community. The Mexican artist Jorge González Camarena worked on the mural Presencia de América Latina from November 1964 to April 1965, and the building opened to the public in 1967. The collection has grown substantially since then through significant donations: in 1984 from the family of graphic artist Jorge Délano Frederick, in 1994 from the Sociedad de Oleoducto Trasandino, which donated engravings by Oswaldo Guayasamín, and works from Lorena Villablanca. In 1999, engravings by Santos Chavez with themes relating to the indigenous experience were added. The Casa del Arte has also hosted notable events including the first South American Workshop on Marine Biodiversity for the Census of Marine Life in 2002 and the 13th International Conference of the Bryozoology Association in 2004. On September 10, 2010, the mural was designated a national historical monument by the Government of Chile.

The Casa del Arte holds the most complete collection of Chilean paintings in the country, spanning from the colonial period to contemporary artists. The approximately 1,800 works provide a chronological view of the evolution of Chilean painting, including anonymous colonial pieces and the most representative artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection encompasses important Chilean art groups including the Generación del 13, the Grupo Montparnasse, and the generation of the great masters of Chilean painting. Foreign artists are also represented. The museum maintains both permanent and temporary exhibitions across its six main galleries, with contents that are either fixed or changing depending on their significance and manner of acquisition.

The permanent exhibition on the upper floor includes works by Pedro Luna, Jorge Délano, Thomas Somerscales, Onofre Jarpa, Raymond Monvoisin, Celia Castro, and Agustín Abarca. Two paintings by Gil de Castro are held, along with a nude by Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma, and landscapes by Antonio Smith and Alberto Valenzuela Llanos. The Sala Generación del Trece on the ground floor contains paintings from that movement, including Pintor bohemio by Ezequiel Plaza and Velorio de un Angelito by Arturo Gordon. The Sala de los grandes maestros on the upper floor is dedicated to masters of Chilean painting and includes Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma's La ninfa de las cerezas, considered one of the most praised works of Chilean art. The centerpiece of the museum is the mural Presencia de América Latina (1964) by Jorge González Camarena, located in the entrance hall.

The building was designed by architects Osvaldo Cáceres González, Alejandro Rodríguez, and Javier Lisímaco Gutiérrez. It has an irregular hexagonal shape with primary facades facing both Plaza Perú and the remainder of the university campus. The architecture presents a mixture of styles: modern in its front section and neoclassical at the rear, the latter being a result of the 1960 Valdivia earthquake that destroyed the original building on the site, which had housed the university dental school. A stepped entrance atrium projects from a large window toward the interior hall. A skylight facing the campus illuminates the exhibition hall, while the main section of the building orients toward Plaza Perú. The building has two floors, with wood-panelled upstairs spaces. One of the first trees planted in the university, a redwood, grows beside the museum.

The Casa del Arte is located on the University of Concepción campus at the corner of Chacabuco and Larenas, facing Plaza Perú in Concepción, Chile. It is owned and operated by the University of Concepción. The museum attracts approximately 75,000 visitors per year. The building contains six main galleries: the entrance atrium with the González Camarena mural, the Sala Tole Peralta on the ground floor presenting works in chronological order, the Sala Generación del Trece on the ground floor, the Sala de los grandes maestros on the upper floor, the Sala Marta Colvin on the ground floor for temporary exhibitions and performances, and the Sala CAP on the basement level. The Sala Marta Colvin is adaptable for readings, discussions, and poetry recitals. Temporary exhibitions are hosted on the ground floor.