FireatMAM

In the early hours of July 8, 1978, the city experienced one of the most terrible artistic and cultural tragedies in its history. It took only about an hour for a fire to destroy 90% of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art of Rio, causing the disappearance of, for example, works by Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Picasso, Henri Matisse, René Magritte, Portinari, and Di Cavalcanti. No fewer than 80 paintings from the constructivist phase of the Uruguayan painter Joaquín Torres García, which were there to be part of the museum's next exhibition, a retrospective of the artist, also turned to ashes. And almost nothing was left of the library, which before the fire held about 9,000 volumes, especially on visual arts and architecture. In all, only 50 works survived the flames, as did the film archive's collection, preserved between the concrete walls. The structure of the modernist building also remained unscathed, with its exposed concrete porticos by the seaside, one of the city's emblems.

The museum was reopened in 1981, but under precarious conditions. Its activities were interrupted several times. It was thanks to the mobilization of the artistic community that it was able to rebuild itself and regain space in the city's exhibition circuit, which gained momentum with the acquisition of the Gilberto Chateaubriand collection, under a loan agreement, in 1993.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a fire that occurred on July 8, 1978, at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro. In the foreground, we see a fire truck with an extended ladder. People in uniform are climbing up and down the ladder. In the background, the museum building is damaged, with exposed metal structures and broken windows. The lighting is low, suggesting the photo was taken at night.

The Museu Nacional fire, in 2018, revived the nightmare of the tragedy at the MAM, the causes of which remain unexplained to this day. The only certainty is that both cases illustrate the perverse effects of cultural neglect in the country. Just like the museum at Quinta da Boa Vista, the MAM also suffered from a lack of resources to ensure the preservation of its collection. And today, 40 years after the flames engulfed its interior, the space is once again suffering a deep financial crisis. So much so that, in order to raise funds, it sold one of its most important paintings to a private collector, in a controversial decision. The work “Nº 16” (1950), by the American Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), was auctioned off in New York, in February 2018, for a price well below the estimate.