Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Paraguay's oldest art collection, founded in 1909

Asunción, Capital

The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes was inaugurated on March 28, 1909, under the name "Museo de Bellas Artes, Biblioteca Histórica y Americana," based on the collection assembled by collector Juan Silvano Godoy during his exile in Buenos Aires. Godoy built a diverse collection of European and Paraguayan art with the aim of educating and enriching the country's cultural heritage; the institution was formally established by the State as the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1939.

The collection brings together more than 650 works, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, prints, and photographs, offering an overview of the evolution of Paraguayan art and its relationship with European and Latin American traditions. Paraguayan artists represented include Saturio Ríos, Carlos Colombino, and Olga Blinder, alongside European works acquired by Godoy on his travels. A particular chapter of the collection is the Guarani baroque art that emerged in the Jesuit missions.

The museum operated for decades in the National Archive building, where a storage facility with part of the collection is still preserved; since 2010 its main headquarters has been the building at Eligio Ayala 1345.