Tigre Art Museum

• Name — Tigre Art Museum "Intendant Ricardo Ubieto" • Native Name — Museo de Arte de Tigre "Intendente Ricardo Ubieto" • Established — (club) 2006 (museum) • Location — Paseo Victorica 972 Tigre, Argentina • Type — Social club Art museum (2006–present) • Architect — Paul Eugéne Pater Luis Dubois • Owner — Municipality of Tigre • Website — https: www.mat.gov.ar/

• Illustration — Tigre Hotel (left) and Tigre Club c. 1910. The hotel was demolished in mid 1930s The club's building, built next to the Tigre Hotel (demolished in 1942), was financed by Ernesto Tornquist and was designed by French architects Paul Eugéne Pater and Luis Dubois. It was opened on 13 January 1912. Like the hotel nearby opened in 1890, the Tigre Club soon became an important meeting place for the rich and famous. The elegant and luxurious building has two floors with mezzanines with large windows on almost all sides. The main saloon on the first floor has frescoes by the Spanish artist Julio Vila y Prades (1875–1930), the staircases are of marble and there are Venetian mirrors and French chandeliers. A casino operated there from 1927 until 1933, when it was transferred to Mar del Plata after a law was passed prohibiting the existence of a casino so close to Buenos Aires. The closing of the casino and the international crisis brought about a considerable loss of visitors. After Tigre Hotel was destroyed by fire in the 1930s and finally demolished in 1942, Tigre Club continued to function as a restaurant with live shows but it never recovered its former glory. In 1979 the Tigre Club was declared a National Historic Monument. After extensive restoration it now houses the Tigre Municipal Museum of Fine Art (Museo de Arte Tigre), opened in 2006. The museum houses an extensive collection of Argentine art.

The building is distinguished by its prominent roofline, featuring corner turrets, a small observation tower, and zinc cresting with pinnacles; its broken-pitch roof slopes blend the classic French mansard style with the Picturesque aesthetic—a style typical of the grand estates and seaside resorts of the era, such as those in Mar del Plata. The lavish interior décor incorporates marble, cast-iron sculptures from the Val d’Osne foundry, Venetian mirrors, Baccarat crystal chandeliers, stained glass, and bronze accents, as well as a dome featuring a *marouflage* painting by the Valencian artist Julio Vila-Prades. The social building connects to the Luján River via a dramatic T-shaped pier-pavilion with rounded ends; its expansive raised terrace features a sinuous balustrade lined with lampposts, while the lower, gallery-lined walkway—supported by paired columns and arches—integrates seamlessly with the Paseo Victorica gardens and the natural landscape of the Delta.

• Illustration — Front view • Illustration — Gallery • Illustration — Interior room • Illustration — South gallery • Illustration — Garden • Illustration — Fresco • Illustration — Museum and river • Illustration — Tower • Illustration — Park and river • Illustration — Columns • Illustration — Sign • Illustration — Interior • Illustration — Lantern