Peering into the Gulbenkian: One Year, 4,345 Photos in the Commons
Posted by Stephanie Fysh in ArticlesAmong the richest collections in the Commons is that of the Biblioteca de Arte of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Portugal. And it’s my particular pleasure to make that collection somewhat better on known on the first anniversary of the Gulbenkian’s joining the Commons. In the last year, the Library of Art has uploaded
- 4,345 photos (as of August 11), with new ones added almost daily,
- in 168 sets (almost as many as I have!),
- gathered into 7 themed collections that show the breadth and specialization of this collection.
At the core of the Gulbenkian on the Commons are two collections of photographs from two studios: Mário Novais and Horácio Novais. Both men photographed their times and their surroundings, and though individual photos are not always dated, their rich visual content suggests their times.
| Horacio, the younger, focused – or so the Gulbenkian’s Commons collection of his work suggests – on the city of Lisbon and the times he lived in. |  Mocidade Portuguesa |
| Among these images are some of great historical importance, capturing the 1931 revolts against the Salazar dictatorship. |  Revolta de 26 de Agosto de 1931 em Lisboa |
| Mário, the elder, focused, in this selection of his work, on photographs of particular events and installations, but also on transportation, institutions, and (as we’ll see later) on the built world around him. |  Exposição Henriquina, Lisboa, 1960 |
| Much of the work of his studio over its 50 years was clearly done on commission, so that it shows a breadth of the national interest, not only his own. |  Edifícios industriais |
Equally important to the focus on these two remarkable – and related – 20th-century Lisbon studios are the architectural and design collections published in the Commons by the Art Library.
| The first of these collections is a selection of an extensive 1960s survey of Portuguese, in black and white and in color, by João Miguel dos Santos Simões, for the Foundation’s own reference work Corpus da azulejaria portuguesa. |  Azulejaria Portuguesa (Portuguese Tiles) |
| A second collection focuses on landscape architecture – the work of the first generation of Portuguese landscape architects, in the mid-20th century, including architect Francisco Caldeira Cabral. |  Setúbal |
| And, most especially, the Gulbenkian continues to amass in the Commons an extraordinary collection of images of Portuguese Gothic architecture. |  Concelho de Elvas |
| This photographic survey of 410 black and white prints from the 1950s, from the studio of Mário Novais, depicts exterior and interior views and decorative details of the heights of medieval building in Portugal. |  Concelho de Beja |
If you have not found these photos in your searches of the Commons, perhaps it is because few have received the attention in tagging that most accounts based in English-speaking countries have. If you have an interest in European history, in museum collections, in architecture, or in Portugal itself, please consider taking a few minutes of your time to make these photographs more easily accessed by others, or to tell a friend or colleague who speaks Portuguese about them.
And to the Foundation itself … Happy Commonsversary!
![Egypt[?] Camels, desert.](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2786683517_486c0fa943_m.jpg)
