Cuba has a huge art culture, and at this dual-site art museum you can spend a whole day viewing everything from Greek ceramics to Cuban pop art.
Arranged inside the fabulously eclectic Centro Asturianas (a work of art in its own right), the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Arte Universal) exhibits international art from 500 BC to the present day on three separate floors. Highlights include an extensive Spanish collection (with a canvas by El Greco), some 2000-year-old Roman mosaics, Greek pots from the 5th century BC and a suitably refined Gainsborough canvas (in the British room).
Two blocks away, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Arte Cubano) displays purely Cuban art and, if you're pressed for time, is the better of the duo. Works are displayed in chronological order starting on the 3rd floor and are surprisingly varied. Artists to look out for are Guillermo Collazo, considered to be the first truly great Cuban artist; Rafael Blanco with his cartoonlike paintings and sketches; Raúl Martínez, a master of 1960s Cuban pop art; and the Picasso-like Wilfredo Lam.
