Lisbon - Thank You, Oil Tycoon

🌟My two-day itinerary in Lisbon dedicated half a day to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. This world magnate, who was passionate about art collecting, bequeathed most of his fortune and collection to Portugal upon his death in 1955, and established a foundation in his name. 🌟Unlike the grand narratives of museums and art galleries elsewhere in the world, this place is more like a timeline spanning from ancient Egypt to the 20th century, intertwining the language of art across millennia with the personal aesthetics of the oil tycoon. 🌟What impressed me most was actually the last stop at the end of the exhibition route, the exhibition hall of French jewelry designer René Lalique: the ultimate representation of Art Nouveau. His works with gold, gemstones, amber, horn, ivory, enamel, and glass are incredibly intricate; female figures, various animals, and plants are his most common themes – the famous “Dragonfly Woman” being one of them. Due to the more than half a century of friendship between Gulbenkian and Lalique, this is one of the richest collections of Lalique’s works. 🌟The 120-acre garden is also a star attraction. While visiting the galleries, the square floor-to-ceiling windows occasionally framed the garden views, giving the scenery a misty quality with black gauze. This is a typical Portuguese garden, with subtle geometric patterns as the base, using a mix of various plant species, the Mediterranean light, and the construction of canopy space to create a sense of tranquility similar to Eastern gardens. 🌟People scattered in twos and threes on the lawn, six or seven mallards, students sketching in the garden, young fathers happily playing with their children on the gravel paths… a true city garden open to all citizens. #ExploringTheWorldTogether #Portugal #Lisbon #CalousteGulbenkianMuseum #CalousteGulbenkian #UrbanSharedSpaces