From 10 June to 2 October 2022, The Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine hosted 'Gulbenkian Revealed: In the Collector’s Private Realm'.
The exhibition was presented in association with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Centre des monuments nationaux and showcased treasures from the museum in Lisbon which houses the private collection of its eponymous founder, one of the most celebrated art collectors of the early 20th century. The exhibition was organised as part of the Saison France-Portugal 2022. It was the second in a series of biannual temporary loan exhibitions to be shown at The Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine, alongside Treasures of The Al Thani Collection.
'Gulbenkian Revealed: In the Collector’s Private Realm' presented a carefully selected group of 82 works of art, principally small in scale and made to be carefully handled and privately cherished by the connoisseur-collector. Through these objects, the exhibition explored five key principles which guided Calouste Gulbenkian (1869-1955) as a collector: preciousness, intimate scale, craftsmanship, provenance and rarity. Reflecting the diversity of artworks which appealed to Gulbenkian, the exhibition also highlighted his fascination with the material quality of the objects that the collected.
The exhibition was curated by Nuno Vassallo e Silva, Director of the French delegation of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.