History of Conventillo from 1881
Conventillos are boarding houses in the suburbs of Buenos Aires in which the immigrant population was housed. They consisted of many rooms around a central courtyard with a common cooking area. Especially the neighbourhood La Boca was the place for Saturday night jam sessions and dances where the milonga and the tango were born. The picture gives an example of the colour of the Conventillos in La Boca attributable to local artist Benito Quinquela Martín (March 1890 - January 28, 1977). He is one of the most popular Argentine painters, whose paintings show the daily life in the port of La Boca.
