The Ralli Museums.

The Ralli Museums are a private non-profit international organisation the main purpose of which is to draw the attention of the public at large to the quality of contemporary Latin-American art by living artists. These museums were created and are funded and managed by Mr. Harry Recanati, a retired banker and collector. So far, five Ralli Museums have been established in various countries and admission to all of them is free of charge.

The Ralli Museums are located at choice positions in their respective cities and house important collections. They do not accept donations or subsidies from third parties. A fundamental principle is that no commercial activity whatever should ever exist in the Ralli Museums, which explains the absence of bookshops, bars and restaurants. However, visitors may use their photographic cameras freely. The total built-up area of the Ralli Museums reaches 24.000m² while the area of the exhibition halls exceeds 12.000m².

We trust that the public will enjoy the various collections shown, whether Latin-American or European (15^th to 18^th centuries and the post-impressionist period). The choice of the works has been determined solely by their quality, irrespective of the reputation of the artists or their market value. Most of the over 800 Latin-American artists whose works are included in the collections are quite well known in their countries of origin, although not generally famous internationally.

The Ralli Museums do not pretend to be didactical. Their purpose is to generate interest and pleasure for the public by the quality both of the premises and of the art exhibited.Guided tours, audiovisual facilities, etc are not provided. As a policy, visitors are allowed to view the exhibits in absolute privacy to enable them to form their own impressions undisturbed. We fully agree with the famous French classical painter, Nicolas Poussin, who said: "Pleasure is the purpose of art". Undoubtedly, beauty and pleasure are badly needed to alleviate the extreme tensions that plague our lives nowadays.

The first Ralli Museum was founded in Punta del Este (Uruguay) in 1987. A second museum operates in Santiago (Chile) since 1992, a third one in Caesarea (Israel) since 1993; a fourth one was established in Marbella (Spain) in 2000. Furthermore, a fifth museum for classical art (16^th to 18^th centuries) was opened to the public in Caesarea, Israel, to be known as "Ralli Museum 2", in 2007.

http://www.rallimuseums.org/