Top 10 Art Museums in Lisbon, Central Portugal

With works ranging from Antiquity to the early 20th century, the Founder’s Collection comprises more than six thousand pieces gathered throughout Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian’s life, including Egyptian Art, Greco-Roman Art, Islamic Arts, Painting, Sculpture and European Decorative Arts. Works by great masters such as Rubens, Rembrandt, Turner, Degas and René Lalique’s largest set of jewels are just a few examples of what can be found in one of the best private collections in the world. Besides the Founder’s Collection, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum is also comprised by the Modern Collection, which features the largest and most complete collection of modern and contemporary Portuguese Art. The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum is surrounded by one of the most emblematic modern gardens in Portugal, open all year. The Museum offers a wide range of facilities to improve the visitor’s experience: three cafeterias overlooking the Garden, a museum shop, free cloackroom service and free Wi-Fi.

A must-see for people interested in the history and design of ceramic tiles, this specialty museum houses a splendid collection of decorative tiles dating from the 15th century to the present.

Housed in a corner of the 17th century Azurara palace, this museum features decorative arts from the 15th through 19th centuries, including textiles, furniture, painting, jewelry and ceramics. Guided tours to the Arts and crafts workshops which feature artisans demonstrating traditional crafts like bookbinding, wood carving and working with gold leaf.

Located in Belém, the Museu Coleção Berardo is The Most Visited Museum in Portugal and is the Main Modern and Contemporary Art Museum in Lisbon, with 6 Major Exhibitions on view. Open every day, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (last entrance: 6:30 p.m.) Admission Ticket (adult): 5€, discounts available. Free on Saturdays, all day. Houses the Berardo Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, together with temporary exhibits. The permanent collection of the museum presents the major art movements of the 20th century - Cubism, Dadaism, Constructivism, De Stijl, Surrealism, Post-war Figuration, CoBrA, Abstract Expressionism, Kinetic and Op Art, Nouveau Réalisme, British Pop Art, American Pop Art, among others, presenting works from artists like Mondrian, Picasso, Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Jackson Polock, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dalí, Francis Bacon, Balthus, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Pistoletto, Bill Viola, Andreas Gursky, Frank Stella, among others. A must-see in Lisbon!

This is a 25-room collection of 17th to 20th century arts, originally amassed by a private collector. A true find.

The Modern Collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum might well be seen to start where the Founder's Collection ends, and in more ways than one. After Gulbenkian's death in 1955 his Foundation was established, and almost immediately began to support a wide range of activities, notably in the field of visual arts, both in Portugal and abroad, notably in Britain and France, where Gulbenkian had lived, but also in the Middle East, where he had made his fortune. Even before there was any kind of permanent home for these works, the Foundation was acquiring pieces by scholarship holders, from the exhibitions it organised, and from its advisors, notably in London, through the British Council. In 1983 the Foundation opened a new building as a home for various contemporary art activities, and from this date began more systematically to acquire works by modern Portuguese artists. In this way the collection touches the end of the 19th century where the Founder's collection ends. The collection continues to grow, by purchase and by donation, and comprises c. 10.500 pieces, many of which are films and photographs, as well as drawings, which can be shown only rarely. With the new displays of the collection we intend to show more material, within a historical framework, but in rotation. In this way we can introduce modern Portuguese art to those who hardly know it, as well as those who know it well.

The Atelier-Museum Julio Pomar's mission is to preserve, disseminate and study Julio Pomar's work in its various aspects, encourage critical reflection and debate around the arts and contemporary culture. The building's redevelopment is a project of the architect Alvaro Siza Vieira, with stark cut and refined lines, integrating discreetly in the architectural of the neighborhood.