Traces of My Travels: São Paulo Series

The São Paulo Museum of Art stands proudly and squarely on the Paulista Avenue, 8 metres above ground, supported by four pillars and connected by two huge concrete beams. Between the pillars and the beams, the huge space is used on Sundays by market stalls, and on a Saturday, it is a free space for citizens and tourists. It is such a clever and unusual design and such an unmistakable landmark.

The Sao Paulo Museum of Art, Av. Paulista

The internet describes this museum as holding the finest collection of European art in Latin America and indeed in southern hemisphere. So it came as a disappointment that it does not compare anywhere near the likes of Prado in Madrid or the Hermitage in St Peterburg. Still, it was a nice place to spend a few hours under cover on a Saturday. Today, the temperature was 20C but it felt more like 12C.

The entrance fee is 15 BRL and all visitors have to open their bags for inspection at the security check point. Any bottled water has to be deposited at the cloakroom located at ground level near the entrance to the building. The security guard stuck a label with a number to my bottle of water and stuck another label with the same number to the back of my entry ticket and sent me off to the gallery. It was the first time that I experienced a ban of bottled water from an art museum.

Living rough, outside Sao Paulo Museum of Art

I have been struck by the visibility of makeshift shelters at São Paulo. Underneath the museum, there were people lying on the ground entirely covered by blankets. At one corner of the building there were two tents with signs of being lived in. São Paulo is such an expensive city, even by European standards, little wonder that signs of poverty are so rampant right in the city centre, on the main thoroughfare of the city. Where I stay, in the Jardins area, there are plush apartments behind security gates, with lush lawns, palm trees, and security guards in flak jackets.

Despite the disappointment of such a small collection, there are a few pieces that brought a lot of pleasure to me. Here they are, in no particular order.

Degas's Four Ballerinas on Stage. Such grace and elegance.

Renoir's Girl with a bunch of Spikes

Massuoli's Sleeping Diana - I could almost hear her breathing

Ingres's The Virgin of the Blue Veil - a mix of sensuality and serenity

Drouais's Duke of Berry and Count of Provence as Children -

who would have thought they were boys?

In the basement area there was a photography exhibition and I found a lot of photos that I like. I wish I had the skill and the eye to take such photos.