Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
(Calouste Gulbenkian Museum)
Before WWI, the Armenian Calouste Gulbenkian negotiated an agreement to
broker all the oil Iran sold to the West for a 5 percent commission, making
him one of the richest private citizens in the world. During WWII, however,
Britain made him unwelcome because he refused to sever his ties with the
Iranian embassy in Vichy France. When Portugal welcomed him on the rebound,
he became a citizen and established a billion-dollar foundation, the largest
in Europe, to aid the Portuguese arts. On his death in 1955, he donated
his private art collection to the country.
In breadth and quantity, Gulbenkian's collection was the finest remaining
in private hands. His great coup was the purchase of several works, including
two Rembrandts (Portrait of an Old Man and Alexander the Great)
from the Hermitage during the late 1920s. Gulbenkian was not a collector
striving to complete a series, but a lover of art who purchased individual
works because they captivated him. Consequently, this is a museum of stars
rather than of any single art genre. Highlights of the museum include its
collections of Middle Eastern carpets, Korans, ceramics, and clothes.
