Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

The museum was founded upon the legacy of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, an Armenian oil magnate and avid art collector. Guided by his philosophy of collecting Only the Best, Gulbenkian amassed over 6,000 artworks during his lifetime. Today, around 1,000 of these pieces are on display at the museum. The collection is divided into two main sections: one dedicated to Eastern and ancient art—including Egyptian, Islamic, Persian, and Asian works—and the other to Western art, featuring pieces from the Renaissance to the early 20th century by artists such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet, and René Lalique. Opened in 1969, the museum was designed by Alberto Pessoa, Pedro Cid, and Ruy Jervis d’Athouguia to harmonize with its surrounding gardens, creating a serene and elegant environment for exploring art. / ※ Entry available at 20% off with the Lisboa Card.

Nice display of art through the ages, from 2-3,000 BC to 19th Century. Limited description in English. Some of the labels were very low down or too badly lit to read. Quite warm and noisy. Leave bags and outdoor clothes in the cloakroom we visited in a rainy March day). Not as many paintings as expected. Good gardens although directional signage a little optional at times! The modern art collection (an additional €2) not for us! Spent two+ hours at the main exhibition and it was good value for money at €14. Cafe good for coffee and light snack on arrival. Too busy for lunch

Foundation also has two museum itself. One the personal collection of Gulbenkian itself and modern art museum. Both museums are worthy to visit, including temporary exhibitions too!!

This is temporarily under renovation (April 2025), so only about 300 pieces are on display. But an incredible 300 pieces with a fascinating narrative of Gulbenkian! Great curation! This is 10x more interesting than the stuff over at the modern art museum. The building also has a temporary exhibit on British art at the moment. €14 ticket gives you access to both museums.

Impressive and unusual collection of international art across centuries presented in a cool setting and with a pleasant cantine as well. Museums can be boring or over specialised or too intellectual - this one strikes a great balance of providing and overview and focusing on some extraordinary styles and eras. I particularly liked the spacious presentation of ceramics and carpets which is not so common.

Beautiful gallery. The collection isn’t huge but there is a lot to explore. You can buy a ticket for both galleries for 2 extra euros (the modern art one was closed when I was there). The grounds are beautiful and the mid century modern architecture is beautiful.

Even if you don't want to visit the museum or arts centre, it is definitely worthwhile to pass by the building and its iconic gardens. It is a nice place to cool down during the hot summer days

Went to the Modern Art section which is mostly closed. 10 Euros for very average art that took 15 minutes to visit. Don't bother, lots of better things to see in Lisbon

The first thing you need to do after entering the museum is install their app. Free audio guide and details on a huge number of the artworks on display. In some instances, it's just a repeat of the caption but some of them had different and more extensive information. I was here for about two hours to see the type of art I enjoy. Funded mainly by Calouste Gulbenkian (1869-1955) who was a British-Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He is credited with being the first person to exploit Iraqi oil. By the end of his life, he had amassed one of the finest private collections of works of art and was among the richest persons on earth. The majority of Gulbenkian's artwork is on display here, although his collection may be found in numerous museums across the world. According to his bequest, the museum was established to house and exhibit his collection, which is now owned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. A selection of about 1000 of the museum's about 6,000 artifacts are on permanent exhibit. It is a varied collection. I enjoyed looking at an alabaster cup that dates back to 2600 BC, a bronze solar barque from 380 BC, 17th century Persian carpets, a tile panel from 1522 and Chinese vases from the 16th century and French 18th century. Paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Nattier, Vincent, Degas, Renoir, Monet, Sargent and more. This is one of the greatest varied collections I've seen. I enjoyed it more than I expected I would. [Review 19005 overall - 203 in Portugal - 2529 of 2022.]

Disappointed that this private art collection one of the most notorious in the world was comes today. It appears that in billionaire oil heir collected art from around the world having over 6,000 pieces with over 1,000 on display. The Lalique room is world renowned. The gift shop & gardens were lovely.

This is one of the great museums of the world. We knew we would like it, but we actually loved it. First, let me suggest you get a taxi up to the museum- you'll need your feet to see this place and to walk the impressive grounds. We began in the ancient art building, Roman and Greek and Egyptian, and then we passed to the Islamic works. After that came European art- of all epochs. It's truly amazing! Don't miss the room of silver and gold plate! It's fantastic. Also, the Lalique room is out of this world. And there are two gorgeous Burne-Jones paintings- the Mirror of Venus and the Bath of Venus. You will also fine some great Manet's, Rembrandt's and other works in this museum. It's really amazing. We bought the 10 dollar tickets which allowed us access to the foundation works as well as the modern art wing- which we went to, but did not like as much. But then, we're not modern art people. The grounds, though, are lovely- and there are ducks and turtles! Very cute ducks and turtles. The grounds have many shady spots to sit. And there are cafes in each of the buildings- they must be good- the queues were long! The gift shops were also lovely. Calouste Gulbenkian (Mr. 5%) was a fascinating man. If you are going here, read up about him. I also found the book to the museums key works on Amazon for quite a low price- so I could familiarize myself with the collection (and the book will make quite a nice souvenir as well). Bathrooms are large and clean. Staff are multilingual and very kind and helpful. Pictures are allowed- but no flash!

Awesome museum. In a fabulous park. Free on Sunday after 2. Plan on at least 3 hours there.

This goes into one of my favorite museums ever category. The Gulbenkian is so named for an American billionaire named Calouste Gulbenkian who collected art and antiquities for the pure joy of it and bequeathed his collection to Lisbon. The museum is presented like that: a favorite collection. There are Persian rugs, Egyptian artifacts, ivory carved triptychs, golden scribed gospels and Bibles, spectacular Rodin sculptures, paintings throughout the ages including some impressionists, and of course! The Lalique!! The museum is very spacious and well-designed and each room has a theme and only a few well curated items in each room. This makes your adventure easy to follow. It is not overwhelming in the least and it is clear in every room what the showcase pieces are. I did the museum in about an hour, then wandered downstairs to find a really great lunch spot. It is a cafeteria where you can select whatever you like to eat, put it on a tray, and then go sit in a magnificent garden. I had soup, bread and butter, a carafe of wine, a bottle of water, and a giant dessert for six euros. I lingered over that lunch for easily an hour as well. Great museum! Do not miss this when you're in Lisbon.

The Foundacao Calouste Gulbenkian is "probably" Lisbon's major art museum. There is no other museum with a name like "Museo de Arte de Lisboa," so this must be it. I've known about the Gulbenkian for years and, in all the times I've been to Lisbon, I've only been there once. I'm glad I went. The only other museum I've been to is the National Coach Museum (incredibly detailed horse-drawn carriages) and that was impressive, but that was a long time ago. Lisbon has no shortage of museums, though some are more niche-like in their focus. The reason many people may not see the Gulbenkian is because most of Lisbon's touristic highlights are in its natural amphitheater-like bowl near the harborfront square and the hills immediately flanking it. The Gulbenkian is above the the city's "amphitheater" and a bit north of the famed Marques de Pombal rotunda. Calouste Gulbenkian was a successful Armenian business magnate who bestowed his art collection upon the city of Lisbon. The art includes that of some of the European masters and, as such, is primarily European, Middle Eastern, and Asian in its focus. Mostly, the works are paintings, sculptures, and ceramics. However, they are rounded out by displays of apparel and furnishings, the latter of which are especially ornate. You would wonder why anyone would even want to use them or sit on them. As such, they're better off here ... in this museum. Your Metro exit is Praca de Espanha, which is near the city's bullring and near the bus queuing area that can take folks to the south shore and the lengthy strand of beaches by crossing the Ponte 25 de Abril. With such an efficient Metro system, there is no reason not to go slightly north in the city, away from the more touristic highlights, and see the Gulbenkian Museum. There are also gardens, an indoor-outdoor cafe', and, of course, special exhibits which are often extra cost venues. I was going to say the Gulbenkian is a 4 star situation. However, when one considers that there's a free day each week, that the main admission ticket is reasonably priced to begin with, and that the Lisboa Card brings the admission down to about 5 Euros, the Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian museum is as good as it gets.

This museum deserves much more time and energy than we had for it. It is housed in three buildings in a park-like setting. Antonio, who drove us from the airport to our flat in Baixa and then to the Corinthia Hotel, pointed it out on one of the drives. The Gulbenkian is named for a British businessman of Armenian origin, Calouste Gulbenkian, who settled in Lisbon, collected art and antiquities and bequeathed his collection to Lisbon upon his death in 1955. The taxi let us off in front of the building that houses the temporary exhibits. The building to the right houses antiquities and European art and the third building holds modern art. You can pay admission to entire museum or to the permanent collection and we decided to do the latter since we knew we wouldn't have the energy for the entire museum. Seniors are half price, so it was €10 for both of us, more than reasonable. We walked to the second building and paid. We started in a room housing Egyptian antiquities. They were interesting, but Alan, who moves faster than I do through museums, came back and told me I would love the next two rooms and I did. They were full of Persian carpets and embroidered wall hangings of silk and velvet, Turkish ceramics and textiles and antiquities from Syria and other parts of the Middle East. The collection was imaginative and expansive and I love the generosity of his bequest to the city. The European art was interesting, a lot of religious art by painters I didn't recognize and then more secular art by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyke and others. It's mind boggling that one man could have collected all this beauty. This building contained the cafeteria and bathrooms on the lower level and the requisite gift shop. There are stairs as well as an elevator for those who need it. We ran out of energy before we could take in the modern art collection, but we enjoyed what we saw.

Totally awesome museum. This museum is bigger as you think. Everything you think, you reached the end, there will be another section with new things. Also it offers you a lot of variety: paintings, furniture, carpets, robes, jars, ... With a cultural range from egypt, asia and western renaissance. It started slowly but increases in quality and awesomeness. If you like pictures: dont spend to much time on carpets and furniture. Free tickets on sunday :)

A Fantastic place by his architecture and the selection of his master pieces, a special mention for his Lalique collection absolutely amazing! Outside a beautiful garden ...

This museum is PHENOMENAL. It reminded me of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London insofar as it had a wide array of artistic pieces beyond art on canvas. That said, it does the latter well as well; classic painters (French, Dutch, British) as well as some lesser-known (to me) artists from Portugal and Spain. Furniture, sketches, jewelry...all featured in the Gulbenkian. As others have said, I was a little surprised that - given the history of the Gulbenkian - there wasn't any strong representation of art from Armenia. What I'd like to call out specifically, though, is the building itself. It's a midcentury modern design lover's dream. Worth spending some time having a coffee in the cafe (which is a retro slide-your-tray-along-the-line cafeteria) or just sitting in the various corners and taking in the light as it streams through the galleries. Yelp note: not free admittance, but very affordable (4 euros per adult, with concessions available).

This is a beautiful museum in the middle of a park. Find it first, which can be a challenge, and enjoy it. The grounds are beautiful and the art collection is very nice. Also, don't rent the audio tour because it was not very helpful. Simply rely on the map issued during admission to guide yourself around. Also, don't miss out on the outdoor cafe which serves above average food in a great setting. In addition, if you need to do some shopping before or after your visit, there is a Corte Inglese mall a short walk away. I am a huge fan of the Spanish Corte Inglese malls because they are a foodie paradise. This is were I sought out very good Portuguese products to bring back home. Just to name a few, olive oil, vinegar, port, cherry liquor Ginga, wine and many other hard to find items back home in Chicago. I definitely was not disappointed by my purchases. But, I was disappointed when they ran out, like Ginga, which I cannot find back home or on the internet. Portuguese products are very underrated and not widely available.

This listing has the hours for the Foundation, not for the Museum. The Museum is closed on Tuesdays. For real hours, check the museum website.

This museum was erected as a way of showing the extensive collection of Calouste Gulbenkian, an Armenian that made is fortune of Oil and then started his huge collection, one of the richest in the World. If you are in Lisbon and like Arts and History this is one museum to go to, it is surrounded by a beautiful garden and a Modern Art gallery. Its collection include pieces from the Mesopotamia empire to a very good Lalique exhibit, where you can see some of his greatest pieces, especially a beautiful dragonfly all made of glass with precious stones. If you are a student you will get in for free, the entrance isn't very expensive for the rest of us. I highly recommend this musuem for an early morning walk and art viewing. You can always find temporary exhibitions happening in the basement.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. We spent a wonderful time there, roaming from place to place, from Asia to Manet, from Persia to Burne-Jones and Eropean furniture to Lalique. More explanation would be interesting but the sheer quality of the selected objects and their diversity was enough to fill me with a wonder I only felt in NY's Met - the human scale allowing to span the whole place in two densely packed hours. A must-see.

Lovely museum - well two actually, with the modern art museum in the same complex a short walk across the beautiful gardens. A great place to spend many hours - two great art museums full of inspirational objects and artefacts. If you arrive after 2pm on Sunday entrance is free. Plus a really good value cafeteria with very good prices and an outdoor patio overlooking the garden. You can bring a picnic and spend the afternoon on the grass too. Lovely relaxed vibe. Highlight of our trip to Lisbon.

Wonderful private art collection turned into a muesum. I like museums, I love art and history so I have been to a lot of museums. This place by far was one of the best museums Ive ever been too. Now staying there isn't tons that would keep you there for days like some places. But the items in this museum were in impeccable condition! Amazing art pieces. My favourite pieces were the hand painted pages of holy books that had gold leafing and internet details! SO well preserved. I even bought a book in the gift shop that highlight some of the wonderful pieces because I was so in awe of them. REALLY DO NOT MISS THIS PLACE! And its FREE on sundays! EVEN BETTER! Even the headsets and special exhibitions are free on Sundays!

Loved it. nice art and clean and neat as it should be. was not expensive either.. tell them you are a student and it will get even cheaper

Nice collection spanning 5,000 years with some great artists. Turkish, Roman, Egyptian to Renoir and Rodin.

Being Armenian from Los Angeles I had to come to Gulbenkian Museum on my way out of Lisbon and I'm so glad I did. We saw Rembrandt, Degas, Monet and so many other stunning art pieces. Furniture from Paris, porcelain from China and silks from Italy. My only complaint is that being am Armenian I was hoping to see more Armenian art and there are only a few pieces.

The first time I went to Gulbenkian ,I was ,I think 12 and I was very impressed by the large Assyrian pieces.My tastes have changed somewhat.At this point I was much more absorbed by the paintings and the Gulbenkian has a good collection.No , you wont think you're in New York or Paris but if you like art , you go .The grounds are also very nice and you can visit the ducks .Something I consider compulsory.Again very accessible by subway and near a useful shopping complex that has a supermarket.Go early , it tends to get crowded.