The Assis Chateaubriand Art Collection of Maranhão: the regional museum that did not right

Abstract

This research report discusses the contribution of the entrepreneur and collector Assis Chateaubriand to the creation of the State of Maranhão Art Collection sponsored by the Campanha Nacional de Museus Regionais (CNMR) initiated in 1965. The study offers an account of the negotiations between the collection's donor and recipient and their alleged consequences for the transferring of the collection, which only came to São Luís in 1988. Documents from MASP (Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo) concerning the establishment of regional museums were analyzed. The lists of works collected during the CNMR were compared against the art collection of the Museu Histórico e Artístico do Maranhão – MHAM, (Historical and Artistic Museum of Maranhão) showing the unsuccessful attempt to create the State of Maranhão Art Collection. Among the 42 art works selected for the museum, stands out a work signed by Pablo Picasso which authenticity could not be proven.