The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum is a great place to spend a few hours. In addition to the museum, you can also stroll in the gardens and have something to eat at the cafe.
The Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Portugal contains the private collection of Calouste Gulbenkian. This reminds me of the John Ringling and Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. When I lived in Nokomis (just 20 minutes depending on the traffic, I used to visit the Ringling Museum often and have strolled in Mabel Ringling's Rose Garden.
Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was a key figure in the oil industry, art collector, and philanthropist of Armenian descent, who was born on March 23rd, 1869.
As you can imagine he became fabulously wealthy. With his wealth and love of art, he created one of the greatest private collections in the world and in the end bequeathed it to the city of Lisbon where is settled during World War II.
Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was a key figure in the oil industry, art collector, and philanthropist of Armenian descent, who was born on March 23rd, 1869.
As you can imagine he became fabulously wealthy. With his wealth and love of art, he created one of the greatest private collections in the world and in the end bequeathed it to the city of Lisbon where is settled during World War II.
The Gulbenkian Museum is now looked upon as one of the best museums in Portugal. There are two buildings. One houses Gulbenkian's private collection which has works ranging from Antiquity to the early 20th century, including paintings by the great masters such as Rubens, Rembrandt, and Degas.
The other building houses the modern collection which contains more than ten thousand works and is considered to be the most complete collection of modern and contemporary Portuguese art. It is also home to the Gulbenkian Orchestra which I was honored to see their performance last month (January 2023) of Return of the Jedi during the 40th anniversary of the movie.
The other building houses the modern collection which contains more than ten thousand works and is considered to be the most complete collection of modern and contemporary Portuguese art. It is also home to the Gulbenkian Orchestra which I was honored to see their performance last month (January 2023) of Return of the Jedi during the 40th anniversary of the movie.
Egypt Collection - Having been to Egypt on five different occasions, I was impressed that he had so many items pertaining to Egypt. In 1896 he and his family had to flee the Ottoman Empire during the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the anti-Armenian sentiment in the country and landed in Alexandria, Egypt where they temporarily settled (which explains is large Egyptian collection).
This slideshow shows a few of my favorites.
This slideshow shows a few of my favorites.
Ceramics – Being Armenian, Calouste Gulbenkian loved Islamic ceramics and collected them. But being who he was he collected anything he liked so included in his collection were Chinese, Rococo and Greek.
Paintings – his painting collection spans Renaissance to Modern. If you are a fan of art at all you will certainly recognize the great masters in his collection.
Furniture Collection - sets of French furniture and tapestries of the eighteenth century.
Practical Information:
Located at Avenida Berna 45, Lisbon
Open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Closed on Tuesdays)
Tickets are10€ for both buildings (please check their website for current pricing). You get a 20% discount with the Lisboa Card. Free on Sundays after 2 p.m.
Find out more at their official website.
Located at Avenida Berna 45, Lisbon
Open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Closed on Tuesdays)
Tickets are10€ for both buildings (please check their website for current pricing). You get a 20% discount with the Lisboa Card. Free on Sundays after 2 p.m.
Find out more at their official website.
Check our my other Lisbon museum posts!
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