Nearly
all
of
the
ground
floor
at
the
MNBA
is
taken
up
by
paintings
and
sculpture
from
France
(mostly),
Italy,
Holland
and
Spain,
plus
later
works
by
artists
from
the
United
States
-
José
de
Ribera,
Tiepolo,
Toulouse-Lautrec,
van
Gogh,
Sisley,
Pollock
and
Rothko
are
all
given
pride
of
place.
Virtually
every
Argentine
artist
worth
his
or
her
salt
studied
in
Europe
and
slavishly
imitated
European
styles,
such
as
naturalism
and
Impressionism
-
and
their
work
has
been
"relegated"
to
the
upper
floor.
They
include
Prilidiano
Pueyrredón
(1823-70),
Un
alto
en
la
pulpería
(
c
.
1860);
Eduardo
Sívori
(1847-1918),
El
despertar
de
la
criada
(1887);
Martín
Malharro
(1865-1911),
Las
parvas
(1911);
Fernando
Fader
(1882-1935),
Los
mantones
de
Manila
(1914);
and
Valentín
Thibon
de
Libian
(1889-1931),
La
fragua
(1916),
all
masterpieces
in
their
way.
One
of
the
country's
greatest-ever
sculptors,
realist
Rogelio
Yrurtia
(1879-1950),
heavily
influenced
by
Rodin,
was
chosen
to
create
a
number
of
rather
bombastic
monuments
across
Buenos
Aires,
and
his
house
in
Belgrano
is
now
a
fascinating
museum.
Apart
from
Xul
Solar,
who
wanted
South
America
to
find
its
own
artistic
feet,
the
overwhelming
majority
of
Argentina's
artists
continued
to
fix
their
gaze
relentlessly
on
Europe
throughout
the
1930s
-
the
so-called
"
década
infama
", a
period
of
political
repression,
economic
depression,
immigration
controls
and
general
melancholy
-
and
increasingly
on
the
United
States,
for
inspiration,
following
trends
and
joining
movements.
Two
of
the
greatest
Argentine
artists
active
in
that
period
were
Antonio
Berni
(1905-81),
whose
Primeros
pasos
(1937)
is
on
display
at
the
MNBA,
and
Lino
Enea
Spilimbergo
(1896-1964)
-
seek
out
his
Figura
(1937)
hanging
nearby.
Both
were
taught
by
the
now
much-overlooked
French
Surrealist
André
Lhôte,
as
shows
clearly
in
their
paintings,
which
aimed
to
depict
the
social
reality
of
an
Argentina
in
economic
and
political
turmoil
without
espousing
any
political
cause,
whether
left
or
right
-
Berni
was
hailed
as
the
leader
of
the
so-called
Arte
Político
.
His
incredibly
moving
La
Torre
Eiffel
en
la
Pampa
(1930)
singlehandedly
seems
to
sum
up
the
continuing
dilemma
among
Argentine
artists
-
are
they
nostalgic
for
Paris
while
in
Argentina
or
for
Buenos
Aires
and
the
pampas
when
in
Europe?
