Right before Costa Rica shut down for Holy Week and Easter Sunday, 158 important works of fine art were being transported in utmost secrecy and under sophisticated security through the streets of San Jose. A few unmarked trucks carried original works by European masters as well as pieces by Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat and more. This plethora of art will be exhibited as part of the 20^th anniversary of the Costa Rican Center for Science and Culture.

On April 16^th, museum curators and visual arts specialists were busy offloading the precious cargo into the National Gallery, located inside the Children’s Museum near the lovable downtown San Jose. These paintings, drawings, sketches, photographs, and sculptures will be part of the special Herencia del Art (Art Heritage) exhibit, which is scheduled to begin on April 28^th and will continue until June 28^th.

Aside from the artists previously mentioned herein, visitors can expect to see works by:

• Alberto Giacometti
• Edgar Degas
• Henry Matisse
• Jasper Johns
• Pablo Picasso
• Paul Gauguin
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir
• Robert Rauschenberg

The Art Heritage display at the National Gallery will open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from Monday through Friday and from 9:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the weekends. Visitors with cedulas (including foreign residents) will pay 1,000 colones at the door (about $2). All others will pay $10 and must present ID. No purses, backpacks, briefcases, or cameras will be allowed at this exhibit.

Some of the pieces that will be exhibited for the very first time in Costa Rica date several centuries They are part of an exclusive private collection that is being facilitated by a renowned French art collector, dealer and gallery expert who calls Costa Rica a seasonal home. In recent years, our country has been attracting wealthy and well-connected patrons of the arts; as reported by The Costa Rica Star last years, a major arts center is slated for development in Playas del Coco, province of Guanacaste.

Source: Radio Columbia