Art attack

Lisbon, Saturday 21 October

Mid town is very quiet on a Saturday. That’s how I remembered what day it was, otherwise I had quite forgotton. After wandering about a bit I needed inspiration so I spent the morning at the Centro de Arte Modern, part of a fabulously designed complex of gardens, museums and galleries commonly known as the Gulbenkian Collection. This is another private collection that has been given up to public administration. Whoever Gulbenkian was he had very good taste and left an amazing legacy to the city. He seems to be the closest thing to a Portuguese Rockefeller. I would have to say art aside this is one of the best gallery complexes I have visited probably due to a mix of architecture and curatorial. Everything appears to be made for its space.

I did the modern stuff first. Some of it was too nationalistic for me and I didn’t understand the nuances of the intention (a mural commenting on life pre and post dictatorship), some of it wasn’t to my taste (a woman doing weird things with netting and wire) and some of it had my entire attention for much longer than I had time (audio of a chiffon painted dining room, a 3d city landscape and a commentary which ends badly in Russian Roulette). The projections were particularly provocative and there were some very funny observations of art and life. It is always great to leave a gallery smiling.

I then had the pleasure of walking through the gardens that connect the contemporary with the more traditional. If we had gardens such as these I would want to be in them all the time. Large paths made from giant pavers indicated the stepped route and the designer had thoughtfully provided something interesting around every corner; a sculpture, a screen, a sitting area, a little river (with ducks), or a specimen plant. The 10 minute walk, which in other circumstances is quite a distance, was a pleasure.

Now I am not normally one for Museums but the write up on this was pretty good so I tried it on. There were a couple of displays I particularly wanted to see though: the Lalique collection (which was amazing – the collector was a friend of the artist so clearly had dibs on the really really good stuff) and the old art (which is art I know - in any case it was just ok). In between those, I looked in on some Art deco, Greek, Roman, Eygptian and early Portuguese artifacts, illuminated manuscripts and ivory religious carvings. I gave Oriental and far eastern rooms a miss though there is plenty of this to see closer to home.

Believe it or not that pretty much took the day and by the time I made it back outside the sun was shining again. Which is great as I am now moving a little further south to Cascais Beach on Monday to kick back, relax and try and finish the book I started in Auckland airport before I left. I think I am up to page 25.

Pic is my stunning snap of the Christo Reo overlooking Lisbon - as you can see with the right backdrop it looks amazing. It was modelled on the Rio statue and is 28m tall.