Back in December of 2022, I embarked on a three week trip to Portugal (with my daughter, of course) that took us through nine different cities (with a stop in Galicia, Spain to spend Christmas with my “familia Gallega”). Our journey began in Lisbon when we arrived there on the morning of December 14th and after a day one rainout, we took to the streets to fulfill the promise of a very detailed itinerary I’d worked on for about a month. My first post in this series features images from our visits to the Torre de Belém, Padrão dos Descobrimentos, and the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
Now being the art museum nerd that I am, you knew I wasn’t gonna pass up a visit to Lisbon’s most popular contemporary art museum, the Museu Coleção Berardo (Berardo Collection Museum). The museum was inaugurated on June 25, 2007 and was named after José Manuel Rodrigues “Joe” Berardo, a Portuguese and South African businessman, investor, and art collector. Unbeknownst to me at the time was that the museum was in a state of transition and would be renamed the Contemporary Art Museum – Centro Cultural de Belém on January 1, 2023.
The government agreed to house part of Berardo’s extensive collection and took a 10-year option to buy 862 paintings and sculptures for €316 million, based on a Christie’s valuation in 2006. However, in 2019, it became public that Berardo owed €980 million(!) to Banco Comercial Português, Novo Banco and Caixa Geral de Depósitos. The Portuguese state stepped in to safeguard access to Berardo’s vast modern and contemporary art collection, after the three banks filed a lawsuit to recover the debts.
In June 2021, Berardo became a named suspect and was arrested by members of the Polícia Judiciária for alleged fraud and a number of other financial crimes. He is currently on the largest bail ever met in Portugal: €5 million. His contract and naming rights, I assume, were not renewed. No museum wants to be named after someone who’s been (allegedly, of course) very naughty with several banks. In its 15 years of existence under the Berardo name, the museum hosted more than 10.7 million visitors, having held 122 temporary exhibitions including 863 of Berardo’s estimated 4,000 artworks which included pieces by Andy Warhol, Picasso, Joan Miró, Jeff Koons, and Paula Rego.
The newly named Contemporary Art Museum – Centro Cultural de Belém is alive and well and will feature pretty much the same offerings as before (including the Berardo collection) but it will be adding the collection of another naughty multi-millionaire – the Elipse Collection, amassed by disgraced Banco Privado Português banker João Rendeiro, who hung himself in May of 2022 in the South African prison where he had been serving a ten year sentence for breach of trust, money laundering and tax fraud. So there’s that…
Overall the museum formerly known as the Museu Coleção Berardo was an impressive art museum and I’ll assume the newly named museum would be just as impressive. Should you find yourself in Lisbon, it’s well worth a visit. Enjoy the photographs…
Julião Sarmento
Assorted works by the late Portuguese artist Julião Sarmento (1948 – 2021) whose work often deals with issues of complex interpersonal relationships; it has consistently utilized themes such as psychological interaction, sensuality, voyeurism and transgression.
Miguel Telles da Gama
“Vanishing Act” (2016)
“Domestic Violence, Take 2” (2001)
Images from Portuguese artist Miguel Telles da Gama’s “Debaixo da Pele” exhibit include “70 ex-votos por uma vida sexualmente animada” (2021)
Really? People actually do this?
“Blonde Ohne Stahlhelm-Otto D.” (Blonde Without Helmet-Otto D.) (1987) by German artist Georg Baselitz
(L-R) “Ritratto di fanciullo con disegno” (1550-1520) by Italian artist Giovanni Francesco Caroto and “Nu Assis à la Chaise Verte” (1944) by French artist Francis Gruber
(L-R) “Paysage Champêtre en Quinze Tons” (1963) by French artist Martial Raysse and “Les Soucis d’Espagne” (1965) by Spanish artist Eduardo Arroyo
“Portrait of Judy Garland” (1979) by Andy Warhol is the museum’s most valuable work, estimated to be worth over €18 million euros
“Flesh Nude Behind Brown Door” (1978) by American artist George Segal
“Magnetic Mountain” (1948) by Swiss-American Surrealist painter Kurt Seligmann
My daughter enjoying “Take Away” (1963) by British painter Anthony Donaldson
“La Mariée” (The Bride) (1963) by French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle. Widely noted as one of the few female monumental sculptors, Saint Phalle created a series of works in the early 60s denouncing the different statuses assigned to women: wife, mother, child-eater, whore and witch. “The bride is a sort of disguise, it’s obviously a total failure of individuality, due to the masculine inability to exercise real responsibilities… ” (Saint Phalle)
“Brillo Box” (1964-68) by American artist Andy Warhol
“Stringed Figure” (1937-1976) by British artist Henry Moore
“Le Détachement Féminin Rouge” (1971) by French artist Bernard Rancillac
The museum formerly known as Museu Coleção Berardo was a pretty remarkable art museum (the best one we visited during our stay in Portugal) and if the newly named Contemporary Art Museum – Centro Cultural de Belém is pretty much the same museum (maybe even better?) then it’s a must-see attraction in Lisbon for any art lover. Nuff said.
Stay tuned for the next post from our multi-part photo series from our trip to Portugal. Next up is the city of Sintra and the Palácio da Pena, which is famous for its 19th-century Romanticist architecture, historic estates and villas, gardens, and royal palaces and castles, which resulted in the classification of the town as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Subscribe below to not miss it…
