Art Museums in Lima

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
• Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Entrance: S/.30; Peruvians and residents S/.15; free for children 8-years-old and under.
• Phone: (51-1) 204-0000
• Email: informes@mali.pe
• Website: www.mali.pe

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
• Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (closed Mondays)
• Entrance: S/.10
• Phone: (51-1) 514-6800
• Email: visitas@maclima.pe
• Website: www.maclima.pe

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

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

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
• Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (appointments can sometimes be made for Mondays)
• Entrance: S/.20.00
• Phone: (51-1) 467-0063
• Email: museo@fundacionosma.org
• Website: www.museopedrodeosma.org

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
• Hours: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Phone: (51-1) 247-0599
• Website: none

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).

• Address: Jirón Camaná 459, Central Lima
• Hours: Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Entrance: adults S/.2, children S/.1
• Phone: (51-1) 626-6600
• Email: matp@pucp.edu.pe
• Website: http://ira.pucp.edu.pe/museo-arte/presentacion

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
• Hours: Monday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (you should contact the museum before your visit to confirm the opening hours, as they are not always consistent)
• Phone: (51-1) 463-8579
• Website: none

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
• Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Entrance: S/.10; free for children of 12 years and under
• Phone: (51-1) 251-7755
• Email: info@mate.pe
• Website: www.mate.pe

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
• Hours: by appointment only (prearranged guided tours are normally between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.)
• Entrance: S/.50
• Phone: (51-1) 422-2437
• Website: none

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
• Hours: Wednesday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Phone: (51-1) 315-1539
• Email: pinacoteca@munlima.gob.pe

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
• Hours: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Website: none