The Berardo Collection Museum (in Portuguese: Museu Colecção Berardo) was a museum of modern and contemporary art in Belém, a district of Lisbon, Portugal. It was replaced by the Contemporary Art Museum - Centro Cultural de Belém in January 2023.
History In 2006, after 10 years of negotiations,Sofia Van Holle (June 26, 2007), New Lisbon contemporary museum opens to applause Reuters. José Berardo signed an agreement with the Portuguese government to loan art from his collection on a long-term basis to the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon.Gareth Harris (August 2, 2019), Berardo museum stays open in Lisbon despite uncertainty over future of 'Portuguese Saatchi's' collection The Art Newspaper. Under the partnership agreement the Portuguese state incurs the costs of displaying Berardo's collection.Sofia Van Holle (June 26, 2007), New Lisbon contemporary museum opens to applause Reuters. The art holdings themselves are owned and managed by a company known as the Berardo Collection Association.Gareth Harris (May 30, 2019), 'Portuguese Saatchi' in hot water over alleged €1bn debt The Art Newspaper. The museum was formally initiated as the Foundation of Modern and Contemporary Art on August 9, 2006 (Decree-Law 164/2006). It was inaugurated on June 25, 2007 and is named after Berardo and his collection.About The Collection , The Berardo Collection. At the time, auction house Christie's valued the exhibited works at around 316 million euros ( million).Sofia Van Holle (June 26, 2007), New Lisbon contemporary museum opens to applause Reuters. While the contract is still in force, however, the Berardo Collection Association may not sell cultural goods.Gareth Harris (May 30, 2019), 'Portuguese Saatchi' in hot water over alleged €1bn debt The Art Newspaper. The agreement was renewed in 2017 giving the Portuguese government the option to purchase works from the collection until the agreements ends in late 2022.Gareth Harris (May 30, 2019), 'Portuguese Saatchi' in hot water over alleged €1bn debt The Art Newspaper.
Since its opening, the collection was located at the Exhibition Center of the Centro Cultural de Belém, with over 1,000 works of art on permanent display and temporary exhibitions. From its opening until April 2011, the museum's art director was Jean-François Chougnet, who was then replaced by Pedro Lapa.
The Berardo Collection was seized by the Portuguese state in 2019 after Berardo failed to pay three Portuguese banks the more than $1 billion debt that he owed. The artworks were placed as collateral for the bank loans. From 2023, parts of the collection became part of the inaugural presentation at the Museum of Contemporary Art in the Belém Cultural Center (CCB).Francesca Aton (22 August 2023), New Museum in Lisbon Will Feature Artworks Previously Seized from One of Portugal’s Top Collectors ARTnews.
Collection The collection was arranged in strictly linear fashion, leading visitors though a line of line of rooms with austere white walls on which are displayed examples of notable works of modern art with explanatory text offering a textbook-like survey of modern Western art from surrealism to pop art, hyper-realism, minimalist art to conceptual art in chronological order.
The museum had an extensive permanent collection and also hosts temporary exhibitions that change on a regular basis. The permanent collection is valued by the auction house Christie's at €316 million.
List of important movements and artists Abstract Expressionism Philip Guston, Untitled, 1957 Joan Mitchell, Lucky Seven, 1962 Lee Krasner, Visitation, 1973 Sam Francis, Untitled, 1979 Willem de Kooning, Untitled, c. 1976 Lee Krasner, Visitation, 1957
Abstraction-Création Georges Vantongerloo, SXR/3, 1936
Action Painting Jackson Pollock, Head, 1941 Franz Kline, Sabro, 1956
Body Art Cindy Sherman, Untitled (Film Still Nº37), 1979
Constructivism El Lissitzky, Kestnermappe Proun, Rob. Levnis and Chapman GmbH Hannover, 1923 Aleksandr Rodtsjenko, Portrait V. Majakowski, 1924
Cubism Albert Gleizes, Woman and Child, 1927 Pablo Picasso, Tête de Femme, c.1909
De Stijl Piet Mondrian, Tableau (yellow, black, blue, red and grey), 1923
Vilmos Huszár, Untitled, 1924 Georges Vantongerloo, Studies I, 1918
Digital Art Robert Silvers, JFK, 5/6, 2002
Experimental Art Ana Hatherly, O Pavão Negro, 1999
Geometric Abstraction Nadir Afonso, Marcoule, 1962
Kinetic Art Pol Bury, Mélangeur, 1961 Alexander Calder, Black Spray, 1956 Jean Tinguely, Indian Chief, 1961
Minimal art Carl Andre, 144th Travertine Integer, 1985 Richard Artschwager, Trunk, 1964 Larry Bell, Vertical Gradient on the Long Length, 1995 Anthony Caro, Fleet, 1971 Dan Flavin, Untitled (Monument to Vladimir Tatlin), 1964 Ellsworth Kelly, Yellow Relief with Blue, 1991 Sol LeWitt, Eight Sided Pyramid, 1992 Richard Serra, Point Load, 1988 Frank Stella, Hagamatana II, 1967 Agnes Martin, Untitled #5, 1989
Neo-Expressionism Georg Baselitz, Blonde ohne Stahlhelm- Otto D. (Blonde Without Helmet - Otto D.), 1987 Anselm Kiefer, Elisabeth von Österreich, 1991 Gerhard Ritchter, Abstraktes Bild, 1987
Neo-Plasticism Piet Mondrian, Composition of Yellow, Black, Bleu and Grey, 1923
Neo-Realism Mário Dionísio, O Músico, 1948
Op art Bridget Riley, Orient IV, 1970 Victor Vasarely, Bellatrix II, 1957
Photography Pepe Diniz, various works Jemima Stehli, various works Manuel Casimiro, Cidade 1, 1972 Victor Palla, various works
Photorealism Tom Blackwell, Gary's Hustler, 1972 Robert Cottingham, Dr. Gibson, 1971 Don Eddy, Toyota Showroom Window I, 1972
Pop art Clive Barker, Fridge, 1999 Peter Blake, Captain Webb Matchbox, 1962 Jim Dine, Black Child's Room, 1962 Richard Hamilton, Epiphany, 1989 David Hockney, Picture Emphasizing Stillness, 1962 Edward Kienholz, Drawing for the Soup Course at The She She Cafe, 1982 Phillip King, Through, 1965 Roy Lichtenstein, Interior with Restful Paintings, 1991 Tom Wesselmann, Great American Nude #52, 1963 Nicholas Monro, ??? Claes Oldenburg, Soft Light Switches 'Ghost' Version, 1963 Sigmar Polke, Bildnis Helmut Klinker, 1965 Mel Ramos, Virnaburger, 1965 James Rosenquist, F-111, 1974 George Segal, Flesh Nude behind Brown Door, 1978 Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup en various other works, 1965 Evelyne Axell, L'Oeil de la Tigresse, 1964 Mark Lancaster, various works
Realism Philip Pearlstein, Two Figures, 1963
Suprematism Kasimir Malevich, Suprematism: 34 Drawings, 1920 Ljoebov Popova, various compositions
Surrealism Eileen Agar, Snake Charmer, 1936 Hans Bellmer, La Toupie, 1956 Gerardo Chávez, Vogteren Fro Fortides Kaos, 1979 Salvador Dalí, White Aphrodisiac Telephone, 1936 Julio González, Femme au Miroir Rouge, Vert et Jaune, 1936 André Masson, Eleusis, 1963 Pablo Picasso, Femme dans un Fauteuil, 1929 Man Ray, Café Man Ray, 1948 Paule Vézelay, Les Ballons et les Vases, 1934 Paul Delvaux, Le Bain des Dames chez George Grard (S. Idesbald), 1947 Fernando Lemos, various works
Fees Admission was €5, visits to some of the temporary exhibitions may have an additional charge.
Location, access and facilities The museum was located in the Belém Cultural Center, being the center of the modern cultural life of Lisbon. Across the street, is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
Sources Museu Colecção Berardo, Portuguese Wikipedia.
References
External links Museu Colecção Berardo website The Berardo Collection website Virtual tour of the Berardo Collection Museum provided by Google Arts & Culture