The National Museum of Contemporary Art of Chiado (Chiado Museum, in Portuguese: ''Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado'' – MNAC) is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

located in the Chiado neighbourhood of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal. It was created in 1911 and re-inaugurated, in new installations, in 1994. The museum covers the period between 1850 and 1950, with works by the foremost Portuguese artists of the period, as well as some foreigners. It holds the best collection of Portuguese painting and sculpture from the Romanticism, Naturalism, and Modern periods. Among the artists represented are António Silva Porto, António Carneiro,

António Soares dos Reis António Manuel Soares dos Reis (Vila Nova de Gaia, 14 October 1847 - Vila Nova de Gaia, 16 February 1889) was a Portuguese sculptor. Studies He first studied at the Portuense Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated in sculpture in 1867. He st ...

, Miguel Ângelo Lupi,

Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro (Almada, 21 November 1857 – Lisbon, 6 November 1929), who is usually referred to as Columbano, was a Portuguese Realist painter. Usually considered the greatest Portuguese painter of the 19th century, he has been ...

, Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, Abel Manta, Dórdio Gomes, Adriano Sousa Lopes, José de Almada Negreiros, Nadir Afonso, Mário Eloy, Francisco Augusto Metrass, Mónica de Miranda,

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

, and many others. The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions. Since 1911, the Chiado Museum has occupied part of the old Convent of São Francisco (Saint Francis) in Lisbon, a building of mediaeval origin. The 1994 adaptation and renovation of the museum areas were done by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte.

Recent history

2021 During the confinements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Education Service launched the online lecture cycle ‘Conversas Sobre o Retrato’ that gave voice to several scholars specialized in Art History, Art Criticism, Painting, Photography, Literature and Fashion, as well as the drawing and painting course ‘O Fungagá das Artes’ presented by artists Nelson Ferreira and António Faria. ‘O Fungagá das Artes’ proved to be extremely popular and reached 42,000 families per episode. The thousands of drawings made at home served as a ticket to MNAC for the whole family. The program ‘O Fungagá das Artes’ was later awarded by the Portuguese Association of Museology with the APOM 2022 Award for best Education and Cultural Mediation Project. 2022 As the museum is a space for dialogue and that caters for all age groups, the exhibition for children "The other life of animals" was organised. This show brought together several artists, having as its theme the loss of biodiversity. MNAC also organized the first ever exhibition of

Veloso Salgado José Maria Veloso Salgado (2 April 1864 – 22 July 1945) was a Spanish-born Portuguese painter. He is regarded as one of the country's foremost masters of Realism (art movement), Naturalism with many distinguished works in History painting, hist ...

in France, with about 60 artworks, making known the connection of this master to the painters of Wissant. It also inaugurated Nelson Ferreira's exhibition "Painting rarefied the spirit" which was the fruit of the first artistic residency in MNAC's Sculpture Garden. This show displayed watercolours inspired by the museum's permanent collection, and these paintings were a tribute to academic artists. The blue tones present in the paintings executed during this artistic residency led to the creation of the experimental short film '' Azul no Azul'' (English title:''Blue in Blue'').

References

External links

Chiado Museum official website
*The National Museum of Contemporary Art (Chiado) o
Google Arts & Culture

Chiado Museum website
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Museum of Contemporary Art of Chiado 1911 establishments in Portugal Art museums and galleries established in 1911 Art museums and galleries in Lisbon Contemporary art galleries in Portugal Modern art museums