The photos in question: unpublished images of Eva Perón

Some will like it more and others will hate it more. This museum, which occupies the majestic mansion where the Transit Home for Women 2 of the Eva Perón Social Support Foundation of Palermo (Buenos Aires) operated, has not lost much of its neutrality. On May 7, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Eva Duarte de Perón, the museum in question opened its doors to a large audience. There, more than 400 objects of high density symbolic of his life and his work are appreciated.

Half a century had to pbad to browse a thematic museum the vital route of the woman, perhaps the most emblematic of Argentina: called Eva Duarte, then Eva Perón and at the end Evita or "this wife".

In the first room, his childhood is visited in Los Toldos. Her mother's sewing machine, Juana Ibarguren, shines inside a glbad cube, a tribute to the object that provided for the widow's home and, one after the other , was used to feed Eva and her brothers: Elisa, Blanca, Juan and Erminda.

In the second new space, she wears an almost princely dress, the one she wore in the movie The prodigal (1945), filmed outside at Alta Gracia and it was Eva's only lead role. From this film, her hair turned abruptly.

"I told you that I had black hair when he came to Buenos Aires," exclaims a woman in the arm, who carries his arm to a very old woman, who comments in turn: " I met her blonde and I can not forget her picture behind the desk.He had a very tight suit and a soft voice. "

The photos of the room are unpublished and were taken in 1940 by a photographer, Martínez, at the request of Hilda Shaw, publisher of entertainment magazines. The photos have an impact, they are strange and far from being the most emblematic. Those who shine in this hall are those of the Hungarian artist Sivul Wilensky.

The rooms of the Evita museum have very specific police stations, depending on the pbadage of time in their short lives. Each site has a special aura and the photos create the atmosphere of testimony of the great historical monuments.

Art and testimony

The person who lent his most faithful eye to making scenes of his "official" photojournalistic report was Pinelides Fusco, who provided art to information. This is a key image from 1951, when Eva is crying on Peron's chest on the balcony of "renunciation". Or this picture of her with loose hair and a bright smile, it was the summer of 1948, at the residence of San Vicente, who became an icon of militancy in the 1970s.

There are documentary indications that Eva had two favorite photographers. The great Argentine portraitist Annemarie Heinrich was doing several sessions in her day. One of his photos is chosen to perpetuate his image even in the souvenirs.

"At the Evita Museum, copy vintage Annemarie Heinrich, there is only one, and we, her heirs, have three or four, "says Alicia Sanguinetti, photographer and daughter of Annemarie, adding:" My mother still has her. admired for his charisma, strength and will. She has photographed her since she's organized a beauty contest with Zully Moreno and during her artistic career, until her marriage with Perón. The last portrait that he did was placed on his desk. When Eva was very ill, Raúl Apold, press and broadcast secretary, sent to kidnap the negatives and my father was able to throw six under the table who were saved. In the famous last portrait, Eva wears a ring that my mother lent her. At that time, I did not have a big wardrobe and a lot less jewelry. "

The other photographer who had captivated her, when she was already "Evita", was the renowned Gisele Freund, another German exile who represented, among others, Virginia Woolf, Sarte, Simone de Beauvoir. Freund wrote an entire chapter in his memoirs on how his photographic encounter with Evita took place – it lasted more than a month – and how he followed his frantic days of work during which he also had access to his private world, with his sumptuous dresses and accessories. "All these jewels are gifts," Evita told Gisele, showing her safe with diamonds and other precious stones. The photographer felt that dressing in luxury proved that everyone could have the same thing. "Personified the realization of a wonderful dream," he concludes.

Freund left Evita fascinated by the photos he took, but his press officer seemed too ostentatious and asked for the negatives; she immediately took a plane and published her report in Life Magazine, which provoked a diplomatic incident.

Photos become dangerous when their meaning can go beyond what they show. Of course, it depends on the eyes watching them.