Only the Best (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)

This volume brings together 80 of the finest masterpieces in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, all richly illustrated in color. These magnificent works, which reflect the eclectic taste of renowned art collector Calouste Gulbenkian I 1896-1955), include paintings by Rubens, Fragonard, Gainsborough, Turner, and Manet; jewelry by Lalique and silver from services produced for thc nobility of Russia and Western Europe; Roman medallions; Ottoman ceramics; Japanese lacquerware; and books and textiles from both the Eastern and Western worlds.Published to accompany an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, this stunning book offers dazzling testimony to Gulbenkian's devotion to quality. As a collector -- whether of ancient Egyptian pieces, Islamic works, or European painting and decorative arts -- Gulbenkian acquired "only the best".Katharine Baetjer is the author of 'Only the Best (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)' with ISBN 9780810965461 and ISBN 0810965461.