São Paulo Museum of Art

The São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) is an art museum on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, Brazil. Its 1968 concrete and glass headquarters, designed by Lina Bo Bardi, is a landmark of modern Brazilian architecture. The museum is internationally recognized for its collection of European art, one of the finest in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere, and also holds important Brazilian art, prints, drawings, and smaller collections of African and Asian art, totaling more than 8,000 pieces.

Don't miss

• The building's suspended structure: the main body stands 8 meters above ground, supported by four concrete pillars, creating a 74-meter free span,the largest in the world at the time.
• The permanent collection of European art, considered one of the finest in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere.
• The innovative display method: paintings are mounted on tempered crystal sheets leaned on concrete blocks, imitating the position of a canvas on an easel.
• The 14-story annex, Edifício Pietro Maria Bardi, completed in 2024 and opened in March 2025, which doubled the exhibition area.
• The view from the belvedere, a 'square' with plants and flowers paved with parallelepipeds, preserving the vista of downtown São Paulo and the Cantareira Mountains.

Tickets & tours

Ways to visit São Paulo Museum of Art

Cheapest way inVisit São Paulo with a local guide4.8★ · 129 travelers3-4 hoursFree cancellationFrom$26 per personSee dates →Best full daySão Paulo’s Full Day City Tour: Main City Sights – (Shared Group)4.9★ · 1,849 travelers~7 hoursFree cancellationFrom$79 per personSee dates →Private & flexibleWalking Tour São Paulo Center: Historical Process Of The Largest City in Brazil5★ · 24 travelers3-4 hoursFree cancellationFrom$113 per personSee dates →

Know before you go

• The museum is located on Paulista Avenue, on the former site of the Belvedere Trianon.
• MASP houses more than 8,000 pieces, including European, Brazilian, African, and Asian art.
• The museum contains one of the largest art libraries in Brazil.

A bit of history

The museum was founded in 1947 by Assis Chateaubriand and Pietro Maria Bardi. Chateaubriand, a media mogul, started a campaign to acquire masterpieces for an internationally renowned collection in Brazil, taking advantage of the post-World War II European art market. Bardi, an Italian professor and art dealer, moved to Brazil with his wife, architect Lina Bo Bardi, and dedicated his life to the project. The museum opened on 2 October 1947 in the Diarios Associados headquarters. It was the first Brazilian museum to display post-World War II art and quickly became a meeting point for artists and intellectuals. Between 1953 and 1957, a selection of 100 masterpieces traveled to European museums like the Musée de l'Orangerie and the Tate Gallery, and in 1957 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The current building, designed by Lina Bo Bardi, was inaugurated on 7 November 1968 by Queen Elizabeth II. The entire collection was placed on the Brazilian National Heritage list.