The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum - Founder’s Collection, gathered during Calouste Gulbenkian’s life, covers 5.000 years of Western and Eastern history, from Ancient Egypt to Art Nouveau. Gulbenkian’s motto, “only the best is good enough for me”, accurately defines the criteria that guided his choices, and the passionate affection he developed for each artwork acquired.
The museum exhibits rare and exquisite art pieces from each period, arranged chronologically across several rooms designed specifically to house them.
The journey begins in Ancient Egypt: ceramic and sculpture pieces reveal the most remarkable artistic periods of this civilization, from around 2700 BC to the Roman Era. The Greco-Roman section follows, exhibiting Greek coins and medallions belonging to a treasure found in Egypt (1902), along with Roman statues, silver pieces and glass.
The next rooms are devoted to Islamic arts from Persia, Turkey, Syria, the Caucasus and India, dating from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries. The numerous objects on display include carpets, fabrics, illuminated manuscripts, book bindings, mosque lamps, painted tiles and ceramics, namely from Iznik.
The Far East hall includes delicate Chinese porcelain from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, alongside Japanese prints and lacquer-work.
A large section of the museum is dedicated to European sculpture, painting, and decorative arts.
The sculpture nucleus exhibits works from the Middle Ages such as the Virgin and Child, attributed to Jean de Liège; alongside with Renaissance artists namely Antonio Rosselino, Andrea della Robbia or Pisanello with its noteworthy collection of medals. Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Pigalle, Caffieri and Houdon, the author of Diana, represent the French sculpture from the eighteenth-century while Carpeaux, Barye, Dalou and Rodin integrate the nineteenth-century assembly.
The painting collection from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century gathers works of Lochner, Van der Weyden, Bouts, Ghirlandaio, Moroni, Frans Hals, Ruisdael, Rubens and Rembrandt, among others. The eighteenth-century painting section includes art pieces of the French and English artists and an area exclusively dedicated to the Venetian painter Francesco Guardi. French artists such as Corot, Millet, Rousseau, Dégas, Renoir or Manet and the English painters Turner and Burne-Jones represent the nineteenth-century painting.
The European decorative arts comprise sixteenth-century tapestries from Flanders and Italy, outstanding eighteenth-century French tapestries, fine sets of furniture dating from the time of the Regency – Louis XV and Louis XVI – and pieces in silver or gold by the best French craftsmen.
The last gallery contains an exceptional nucleus from the renowned French jeweler René Lalique, who was a personal friend of Calouste Gulbenkian. Among the innumerous Art Nouveau items, such as bejeweled hair combs, chalices, bracelets, rests the “Peitoral Libélula” (Dragonfly brooch) – undoubtedly one of the most spectacular pieces of jewelry ever created by this artist.
The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum - Modern Collection brings together the largest and most complete collection of modern and contemporary Portuguese art, as well as an important representation of British twentieth century art. From Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso to Vieira da Silva and Paula Rego, the Modern Collection features some of the most renowned and internationally reputable Portuguese artists. The collection is organized in three main sections: one dedicated to works on paper, another devoted to painting and a third one that includes sculptures and installations. The smaller galleries regularly stage temporary exhibitions.
The Modern Collection has been constantly expanding through both acquisitions and donations and currently contains around 10.500 pieces.
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