View of Buenos Aires

Pellegrini employed watercolor to achieve a light, translucent effect, allowing the paper’s texture to contribute to the sense of atmosphere. Brushwork is deliberate and precise, with visible strokes defining architectural forms and natural elements. The medium’s fluidity suits the depiction of sky and water, while the restrained palette reinforces the work’s documentary intent, avoiding dramatic contrasts in favor of tonal harmony.

The painting entered the collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, where it remains today. Its preservation reflects early institutional interest in documenting Argentina’s visual heritage. Pellegrini’s broader body of work, including lithographs and architectural sketches, contributed to the formation of a national visual record during the mid-19th century, making this piece part of a larger archival effort.

In the 1840s–1850s, Buenos Aires was expanding beyond its colonial core, with new infrastructure and increasing foreign trade. Pellegrini’s work coincided with efforts to modernize the city and assert its place in the region. His depictions served both as personal records and as tools for civic identity, offering a visual reference for residents and outsiders alike during a time of political and economic transformation.

Pellegrini’s watercolors, including this view, are valued for their fidelity to the urban environment of their time. They provide historians with a visual archive of Buenos Aires before large-scale modernization. While not widely exhibited internationally, his works remain foundational within Argentina’s art historical canon, particularly for their role in shaping early representations of the nation’s capital.