Un museo para la “Nueva Argentina”. La gestión del Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes durante los gobiernos peronistas, 1944-1955

This article analyzes the management of the National Museum of Fine Arts during the first Peronist government in Argentina, under the direction of the art historian and critic Juan Zocchi. I argue for a revised account of the relationships established between the National Museum and the artistic field, and its role within the cultural project of early Peronism. Zocchi's directional tenure has been described by art historians as a “delay” in the modernizing project begun years before. However, a deeper analysis allows us to see a novel project based on a particular understanding of modern art, articulating itself with ideologies of justicialist doctrine, and developing strategies to transform the Museum into a prominent site of Peronism's cultural project.