Nicolás
García Uriburu
Foundation

The Uriburu Foundation is a non-profit organization coordinated by the artist’s family, which safeguards the works, archive, and library of Nicolás García Uriburu, built throughout his career and contribution to local and international culture. The Foundation permanently exhibits selections of the artist’s works, along with the collection of pre-Hispanic art pieces that Nicolás donated to the Foundation during his lifetime. To visit and participate in public programs, tours, and events, please contact us here.

Front of the Nicolás García Uriburu Foundation.

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Spreading the work
and legacy of Nicolás

The Uriburu Foundation aims to keep the artistic and cultural legacy of its founder alive and to expand his message to inspire ecological awareness and political ecology, in connection with the contemporary scene.

These objectives are achieved through:

  • The cataloging, conservation, promotion, dissemination, and support of research on the work and archive of Nicolás García Uriburu.
  • The visibility of Americanist themes and pre-Hispanic art, along with the multiple artistic practices that link art and ecology in defense of Nature.

 

To visit and participate in public programs, tours, and events, please contact us here.

Interior of the Nicolás García Uriburu Foundation. Buenos Aires, 2023.

Interior of the Nicolás García Uriburu Foundation. Buenos Aires, 2023.

Exhibitions

Manifiesto Verde

Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, Argentina
6 July – 31 December 2023

Territories of waste

Tinguely Museum, Switzerland
14 September 2022 – 8 January 2023

Venecia en clave verde

MNBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
29 June – 30 September 2018

Planet B: Climate Change and the new sublime

Bollani Palace, Venecia, Italy
November 2022

A tale of two worlds

Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
7 July – 14 October 2018

Nicolás in Teotihuacán, Mexico 1962

The Museum of
Pre-Columbian Art
by Nicolás García Uriburu

Argentine pre-Columbian art, despite having some precedents, has not reached the level of development that its diversity and richness deserve. Throughout history, numerous American artists have been drawn to this form of artistic expression. The famous pre-Columbian art collection of Diego Rivera in his house in Coyoacán, Mexico, is an iconic example that has now become a museum. Miguel Covarrubias, a prominent Mexican illustrator, also shared this passion, especially for the Olmec culture, and created a collection that endures to this day in Mexico.

The admiration of artists for pre-Columbian art possibly began in the 16th century with Dürer, who was amazed by the Mixtec jewelry that Hernán Cortés had taken to Europe. This fascination persisted into modern times, as evidenced by Picasso’s interest in the Aztec obsidian skull.

In Argentina, many visual artists drew inspiration from the iconography and themes of pre-Columbian art. However, they also felt a deep admiration for the entirety of these creations from a general perspective, as is the case with Nicolás García Uriburu, who founded the excellent Museum of Pre-Columbian Art that we have the privilege of appreciating today.

Currently, Nicolás’s collection of Argentine pre-Columbian art is curated by the Foundation, while the other part was donated by his daughter, Azul, to the Historical Museum. This donation of over a thousand pieces constituted one of the most significant contributions of pre-Hispanic art to the museum.

In 1998, at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Nicolás covered the museum’s facade with a curtain as a protest against the threat of destruction of the native forests in the northwest. This curtain featured the figure of a jaguar, an archetype symbolizing numerous ideological and religious aspects of pre-Columbian cultures in America, from Mesoamerica to our northwest region, where García Uriburu explored the connections between science and art.

Nicolás García Uriburu’s interest in pre-Columbian art was sparked during a trip to Peru in 1961, accompanied by the painter Benedit, where he acquired some extraordinary pieces from the Chavín culture that are now part of his current collection. During a visit to Mexico to exhibit his own works, he became familiar with the pre-Columbian art of Mesoamerica by exploring sites like Teotihuacán, expanding his horizons. In 1982, he received several pieces from the former collection of Adán Quiroga as a gift, which had become available for sale. Among these pieces, two impressive huacas Santamarina stood out, probably from the early period, marking the beginning of his Argentine collection. Today, this collection allows us to appreciate the different facets and styles of the ancient artists from the Catamarca western valleys and, in general, from the entire northeastern Argentina region.

 

Visits

The Nicolás García Uriburu Foundation opens its doors to school groups and the general public.

All visits are by prior arrangement, please write to info@nicolasuriburu.com.ar

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.

Stay informed about exhibitions, events, and projects.