The Museu Coleção Berardo occupies a large portion of Centro Cultural de Belém (Belém Cultural Centre) and it displays the biggest private collection of modern and contemporary art existing in Portugal.
In the early 2000s, José Berardo, a Portuguese business man that made fortune around the world and that at a very early age started collecting works of art, made a proposal to install his valuable modern and contemporary art collection in Centro Cultural de Belém, so that everyone could have access to it.
In return, entrance would be free and the museum would keep its doors open all year round (the only day it closes is the 25th of December). In May 2017, even though José Berardo was against it, entrance became paid, except on Saturday when everybody can visit it for free.
Since its opening, in 2007, millions have already visited the Museu Coleção Berardo to admire works from artists such as Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Francis Bacon, Cindy Sherman, Marcel Duchamp, Vieira da Silva or Joan Miró.
This internationally acclaimed collection has almost one thousand works of art and it keeps constantly growing as its patron continues to fall in love with new art pieces and buying them for his collection.
Besides the permanent collection, in the largest modern art museum in Lisbon it is also possible to visit a great number of temporary exhibitions by artists from various cultural backgrounds, such as Le Corbusier, Raúl Perez or Joana Vasconcelos.
Specially think about its younger audience, The Museu Coleção Berardo also has activities for children and families, providing smaller ones a closer contact with art from the 20th until today and stimulating their interest in culture.
> Praça do Império
> General entrance: 5€. Free entrance on Saturday. See complete discount list on Museu Berardo website.
> Open Monday to Sunday, 10:00-19:00 (last admission: 18:30)
> Insider tip: the Museu Coleção Berardo has one of the best museum shops in Lisbon. Besides finding merchandise related to the exhibitions, there you will find some of the greatest Portuguese design brands, as well as some unique made-in-Portugal products that will make great gifts. It also has a very complete book shop, with not that easy to find modern art related books.
