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Arts & Communication Contemporary Portuguese art market tools

and the physiognomy of the host cities. This growth is their creations, made interventions in the landscape,
in line with the international context. According to the devised experimental languages, and confronted the
Larry’s List Private Art Museum Report 2023, there are 446 public. The aim of the collection was therefore to provide
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contemporary art museums in the world, of which 82% an international overview of this decisive era at the social
have opened after 2000. Germany, Italy, the United States, and artistic levels, rather than present a chronological
40
South Korea, and China are among the countries with the survey of acquisitions.
highest number of new private museums. According to The third institution is the Berardo Collection, which
the report, Portugal has three such institutions. However, exhibits modern and contemporary art and has been in the
the list fails to include, for example, the Museu de Arte e public realm since 1997 . From its inception, the Berardo
2
Arquitetura e Tecnologia, which opened in 2016, or Casa Collection’s primary objective has been to establish a public
São Roque Centro de Arte, launched in 2019. 41,42 Moreover, collection that addresses the absence of public museums
if we consider the adoption of a mixed model that joins dedicated to modern and contemporary art in Portugal.
private collections with publicly managed buildings, the The private collector assumed an institutional role one
figure increases to 20 contemporary art museums that have might traditionally expect to be fulfilled by the state. The
opened in Portugal since the turn of the millennium. 21 collection’s acquisitions initially focused on European
To put this number into context, we highlight three and North American art from the 1960s, encompassing
museums that have played a key role and act as models works representative of new figuration, minimalism,
for private collectors. We focus on the scope of their pop art, and conceptual art, sourced from auctions and
collections, which represent international and Portuguese international galleries. Over time, the collection’s scope
artists. has expanded to provide a comprehensive representation
of the 20 century. Francisco Capelo, an economist and
th
The first is the Centro de Arte Moderna (CAM; Modern collector, spearheaded the acquisitions program and the
Art Center), which opened in 1983. The CAM is a private conceptualization of the collection. 46,47 The collection
museum run by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is unique as a compendium of significant artists and
based in Lisbon. The CAM is a leading institution for movements from the 20 century, serving as a manual
th
modern and contemporary art given the diversity of of Western art history with a historical overview. It is
its collection, which covers Portuguese art from the unparalleled in its quality and international scope among
th
st
20 and 21 centuries, along with a relevant nucleus of Portuguese museums of contemporary art. The Berardo
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British art from the 1950s – 1960s. The richness of the Collection is remarkable for two main reasons: first,
collection, along with the updated program exhibiting it features high-quality works by blue-chip artists and
living Portuguese and foreign artists, has made CAM a key second, it reflects a commitment to the public realm,
institution for modern and contemporary art in Portugal as outlined in a protocol with the Portuguese state.
and an example for artists, collectors, art agents, and the This commitment has had a persuasive effect on private
general public. collectors when negotiating the integration of their
The second institution is the Museu de Arte collections into the public sphere.
Contemporânea da Fundação de Serralves, also known These collections, particularly the Berardo Collection,
as the Serralves Museum. Located in Porto, the Serralves act as archetypes that are later followed by collectors.
Museum is equivalent to the CAM in importance. It opened António Cachola, Pedro Álvares Ribeiro, Maria João
in 1999 in a building designed by Pritzker prizewinner Santos and Armando Cabral, José Lima, Fernando
Siza Vieira. The museum’s management model is based on Figueiredo Ribeiro, and Armando Martins – all living
a unique partnership between the state and civil society, Portuguese contemporary art collectors – have regularly
where the contribution from private financing equals that collected contemporary art and shared their holdings
from the state. The opening exhibition, titled Circa 1968, with audiences, thus actively changing the Portuguese art
made a statement about the concept behind the collection ecosystem.
and the museum project. The goal was to assemble a Collectors assemble works not only for their own
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collection with an international scope based on the period pleasure but also to share them during their lifetime, rather
1965 – 1975, which was particularly eventful in Western than only after they have passed away, as used to be the
art history. During that time, which encompassed the May case. This change in attitude is helping to create value in
1968 Revolution, the institution of the museum received
criticism, the status of the work of art was ontologically 2 The Berardo Collection has been integrated into the MAC-
redefined and dematerialized, and its limits were extended. CCB - Museum of Contemporary Art, since 2023, as the
Artists used unexpected materials and technologies in State did not renew the protocol with the collector.

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 6 doi: 10.36922/ac.3317