Art Museums in Lima

Written by
Tony Dunnell
Tony Dunnell is a travel writer specializing in Peruvian tourism and the founder of the How to Peru blog.
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Tony Dunnell

Updated 06/03/19

Peru, Lima, Museo de Arte, facade
Demetrio Carrasco / Getty Images

You’ll find a good selection of dedicated art museums in Lima, as well as some interesting private galleries. Collections include pre-Columbian pieces, classic colonial works, modern art, photography and more.

Of course, you’ll find many more works of art in Lima’s history and archaeology museums (the Museo de la Nación, for example) and specialist museums like the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum). But if you want to focus specifically on art, try one of the following museums.

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Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI)

MALI art museum in Lima
Tony Dunnell

The Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI) is housed in the grand Palacio de la Exposición, a Neo-Renaissance palace built in 1871. The museum collection includes an extensive collection of works from various periods, including pre-Hispanic, colonial, republican, modern and contemporary.

  • Address: Paseo Colón 125 (Parque de la Exposición), Lima
  • Phone: (51-1) 204-0000
  • Email: informes@mali.pe
  • Website: www.mali.pe
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima (MAC Lima)

For far too many years, the Peruvian capital lacked a contemporary art museum. But in 2013, the new Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC Lima) opened its doors to the public. The MAC houses a growing collection of modern and contemporary art (1950 to the present day), primarily Latin American and European in origin.  

  • Address: Av. Miguel Grau 1511, Barranco, Lima
  • Phone: (51-1) 514-6800
  • Email: visitas@maclima.pe
  • Website: www.maclima.pe
03 of 12

Museo de Arte de San Marcos

The Museo de Arte de San Marcos, founded in 1970 and located within the larger Central Cultural de San Marcos (part of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos), houses a collection of Peruvian art from various periods. The museum is divided into four principal areas: popular art, portraits, modern and contemporary art, and pintura campesina (rural or “peasant” art).

  • Address: Centro Cultural de San Marcos, Avenida Nicolás de Piérola 1222, Parque Universitario, Central Lima
  • Phone: (51-1) 619-7000
  • Website: ccsm-unmsm.edu.pe/arte
04 of 12

Museo Pedro de Osma

Housed in an elegant mansion in Barranco, the Museo Pedro de Osma contains a wealth of colonial art including paintings, sculptures, silverwork, textiles and exceptionally fine furniture.

  • Address: Av. Pedro de Osma 423, Barranco, Lima
  • Phone: (51-1) 467-0063
  • Email: museo@fundacionosma.org
  • Website: www.museopedrodeosma.org
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Museo Galería Arte Popular de Ayacucho

The Museo Galería Arte Popular de Ayacucho houses artistic works from the historically and religiously significant city of Ayacucho in southern central Peru. The city is well known for its plethora of churches and related religious art; you can see fine examples of the latter in the Lima museum.

  • Address: Av. Pedro de Osma 116, Barranco, Lima
  • Phone: (51-1) 247-0599
  • Website: none
06 of 12

Museo de Arte Italiano

Italian Art Museum building in Lima Peru
Zoonar/S.Heap / Getty Images

Located just north of the Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI) in the Parque de la Exposición, the Museo de Arte Italiano houses a collection of Italian paintings and sculptures from the beginning of the twentieth century. Fans of Italian art from this particular period will be in museum heaven, while casual visitors might not be quite so enamored. Keep an eye open for temporary exhibitions of major European artists.

  • Address: Av. Paseo de la República 250, Central Lima
  • Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Entrance: adults S/.6, children S/.1  
  • Phone: (51-1) 321-5622
  • Email: museodearteitaliano@mcultura.gob.pe
  • Website: there appears to be no official website at the moment, but the museum does have a Facebook page
07 of 12

Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares

The Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares is home to en eclectic mix of ethnographic art from Peru. More than 10,000 pieces reside within the largely donated collection, including paintings, ceramics, religious art and traditional Peruvian retablos (portable boxes containing religious or historic scenes or scenes of everyday life).

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Casa Museo Julia Codesido

Julia Manuela Codesido Estenós (1892-1979) was one of the leading artists in the so-called indigenista artistic movement of Peru. Codesido lived and worked in what is now the Casa Museo Julia Codesido, where visitors can see a collection of her art while exploring her former studio and surrounding gardens (designed by José Sabogal, another “indigenist” artist and a friend of Codesido).

  • Address: Paso de los Andes 500, Pueblo Libre, Lima
  • Phone: (51-1) 463-8579
  • Website: none
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MATE, Asociación Mario Testino

Mario Testino is one of the world’s most famed fashion and celebrity photographers, as well as being one of the most famous people from Peru. With MATE (founded in 2012), Testino has brought much of his extensive photography collection back home to Lima, where it is now housed in a restored nineteenth century Republican townhouse in Barranco. Temporary exhibitions also feature the works of Peruvian and international artists.

  • Address: Av. Pedro de Osma 409, Barranco, Lima
  • Phone: (51-1) 251-7755
  • Email: info@mate.pe
  • Website: www.mate.pe
10 of 12

Museo Enrico Poli Bianchi

This private museum is home to a fine collection of pre-Columbian and colonial art, including ceramics, paintings, gold and silver pieces, furniture and sculptures. The entrance fee and the need for an appointment are off-putting, but it’s well worth considering if you’re a real museum fan.

  • Address: Lord Cochrane 466, Lima
  • Phone: (51-1) 422-2437
  • Website: none
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Pinacoteca Municipal Ignacio Merino

Built in 1925, the Pinacoteca Municipal Ignacio Merino is now home to one of Peru’s most important collections of Republican art. The museum holds more than 850 pieces by some of the country’s most famous artists, including Pancho Fierro, Ignacio Merino, José Sabogal and Fernando de Szyszlo.

  • Address: Jr. Conde de Superunda 141, third floor of the Lima Municipality building
  • Phone: (51-1) 315-1539
  • Email: pinacoteca@munlima.gob.pe
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Casa Museo Marina Núñez del Prado

The museum displays the works of Bolivian-born sculptor Marina Núñez del Prado, as well as pieces by other Latin American artists. Many of the sculptures are located in the gardens surrounding the artist's former residence (now the museum).

  • Address: Calle Ántero Aspillaga 300, El Olivar, San Isidro, Lima
  • Website: none
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