Museu Arte São Paulo (MASP)

At least part of the MASP experience is the building itself. The main display space is a single long box raised two stories off the ground on bright red concrete piers. Inside, the MASP contains an excellent selection of Western art, from 14th-century Italian religious imagery to the early-20th-century works of Picasso. Every period and country has a representative sample -- Dutch Rembrandts, English Turners, Spanish El Grecos, and French everythings (Rodin, Renoir, Degas, and Monet) -- but with the exception of one room dedicated to Candido Portinari, Brazilian art is entirely absent. If you've missed out seeing these artists elsewhere in Europe or North America, the MASP is well worth a visit. But if Brazilian art is what you want, go to the Pinacoteca instead. Don't miss the basement of the MASP; there's a small but very clever circular gallery used to display modern Brazilian photography.