The white mansion
Coffee era.
Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Benedicto Calixto Pinacoteca Foundation is an art gallery in the «Big White House» on the seafront of Santos's Boqueirão district, an example of the mansions of Brazil's coffee golden age. It was built in 1900 by the German Anton Carl Dick, then bought in 1910 by the coffee exporter Francisco da Costa Pires, who moved in with his wife and seven children. In 1913 the family sold it for financial reasons and it became a home for invalids; in 1921 the family bought it back and carried out a major renovation, adding side verandas upstairs, servants' quarters, frescoes and a winter garden. The house is eclectic with Art Nouveau interior decoration and a Carrara marble staircase with a solid iron handrail made by the São Paulo School of Arts and Crafts. Today the gallery shows the work of the painter Benedicto Calixto, a son of the region who painted Santos and the coast in the 19th and early 20th centuries, along with changing exhibitions, set in a garden. Entry is usually free; check times.
Coffee era.
Santos scenes.
Art Nouveau.
Boqueirão seafront, Santos
A painter from the region who painted Santos and the coast in the 19th and early 20th centuries; the gallery shows his work.