[ESP] Pincelada museográfica de Venezuela / [ENG] Museographic brushstroke of Venezuela

_{[ENG] Facade of House N ° 3, headquarters of the John Boulton Foundation, where the museum, the research center and the administrative offices of the Foundation are located. Photograph owned by the author Hive account@marcosmilano71 Caracas, August 4, 2021.}

     

On Avenida Panteón, Foro Libertador, Parroquia Altagracia, right next to the Casa Teresa de la Parra and the National Pantheon, Caracas, is Casa N° 3, headquarters of the John Boulton Foundation, important Venezuelan institution dedicated to the preservation of documents and objects of historical value such as coins or numismatic (One of the most complete public collections that exist in Venezuela,) they preserve a large Bolivarian collection (Objects and documents directly associated with the life of the Liberator, Simón Bolívar), photographs and famous paintings (XIX Century Collection, Interesting Collection of Art: Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects of the XIX Century.) And an important bibliographic collections, a true treasure of the past, there is a General Reference Library, Eduardo Rôl Library, Lord Eccles Collection, Boulton House Economic Collection, Antonio Guzmán Blanco Library, among others. This museum was an idea and in turn founded in 1950 by the son of John Boulton Rojas, the well-known photographer, researcher and art critic Alfredo Boulton Pietri,

Boulton Pietri founded the institution with the support of the family company, HL Boulton & Co., and named it the "John Boulton Foundation" in honor of John Boulton Towley, the first member of the family to arrive in Venezuela, in 1824.

_{[ENG] Sign identifying the John Boulton Foundation.
Photograph owned by the author Hive account@marcosmilano71 Caracas, August 4, 2021.}

     

House N ° 3 is the property of the National Library of Venezuela, but it was delivered as a loan to the John Boulton Foundation in 2002, but it was only until the end of 2007 when it opened to the public. Before opening its doors the house was restored financed by the Ministry of Culture and PDVSA, Centro de Arte la Estancia; there was also contribution from private companies.

_{[ENG] View of house No. 3, headquarters of the John Boulton Foundation. Photograph owned by the author Hive account@marcosmilano71 Caracas, August 4, 2021.}

     

The Museum has six rooms duly organized: Arístides Rojas Room here is the pioneer collection of museum collections in Venezuela, made up of artistic, ethnographic and documentary pieces collected by Arístides Rojas researcher, naturopath, doctor, historian, journalist and collector of the 19th century, one of the renowned scientific disseminators that Venezuela has had.

The exhibition is grouped around the work of Arturo Michelena, Desván de un Anticuario (1893), in which several objects that are part of the collection appear, and includes a pictorial work of capital importance such as Nuestra Señora de Caracas (1760) from the School of the Landaeta, where the Virgin appears floating in the sky showing at her feet a panorama of the city of Caracas.

     

In the Bolivarian Room the objects and documents directly associated with the life of the Liberator of Venezuela, Simón Bolívar, are exhibited, such as portraits, furniture and objects for personal use, among which are decorations, buttons, medals and some portraits and tableware; among other objects. In the Numismatic Room there are pieces of singular importance, such as Centavos from the time of the hegemony of the Monagas, coins of José Antonio Páez and the Bolívares minted at the time of Antonio Guzmán Blanco, also exhibits foreign debt bonds from 1840. exhibit coins, in short, the history of the Venezuelan monetary system from 1805 to 1973.

     

Room 4 of the museum houses temporary exhibitions of works from the "Collection XIX century: collections of art, decorative arts and utilitarian objects of the XIX century". This collection includes various pieces such as hats, fans, textiles, crockery and crockery, as well as works of art. It should be noted that in this room Or rather, in this collection objects bequeathed by Aristides Rojas to his nephew John Boulton Rojas and objects bequeathed by the Boulton family are exhibited. There are decorative objects representative of the artisan history of different parts of the world.

     

Room 5 is dedicated mainly to General Antonio Guzmán Blanco, in this space uniforms and photographs of the former President of the Republic and his family are also exhibited the Car Treaty, signed on April 23, 1863, a peace document that put an end to the Federal War. In the last room numerous paintings and photographs are exhibited very Important for the historical memory of Venezuela, this archive contains images of the country and of important and everyday characters from the 19th and 20th centuries, portrayed by the pioneers of photography in Venezuela and in the world; In addition, the Museum has a vast collection of anthropological objects that includes objects from pre-Columbian cultures, some of which belonged to the naturalist Aristides Rojas.