 |
 |
|
|
|
 Business & Community Services
|
|
 |
Getting Around
Neighborhoods
Museums
Tours & Guided Walks
Back to Where @ Lebanon.com |
|
|
| N I C O L A
S S U R S O C K M U S E U M |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
THE
NICOLAS IBRAHIM SURSOCK MUSEUM,
often described as the modern art museum of Lebanon
- it is in fact the only one - has a mission that goes
much beyond. Bequeathed to the City of Beirut by a
"patrician" of the golden age after whom it was
called, this museum was assigned an ambitious mission in
the donor's will which has the value of a
charter:
"As I love fine arts and long for
their expansion, particularly in my homeland, Lebanon, |
"As I wish this country could receive a substantial
part of fine arts, and my fellow citizens would appreciate
art and develop an artistic instinct,
"For this purpose that I pursue and that
can only be beneficial and contribute to Lebanon's
development,
"I wish there would exist in Beirut, capital of the Republic
of Lebanon, museums and exhibitions rooms
open to everyone, where master-pieces and antiques would be preserved and
displayed. |
 |
|
"(...) I therefore set up in the form of waqf [mortmain] all
of the real estate n° 83 of the Rmeil district
in Beirut (...), and all of the estate, the personal estate and the real estate
that shall be there at the time
of my death, including the furniture, the curios, the golden, silver and crystal
objects, the Chinese objects
and any other estate, with no exception, in order that this real estate and its |
contents form a museum
for arts, ancient and modern, coming from
the territory of the Republic of
Lebanon, the other Arab countries or elsewhere, as well as a room where the
Lebanese artists' works shall be exhibited,
It being understood that this museum shall remain eternally and
perpetually (...)"
 |
|
|
|
| Location |
 |
|
It
is in the heart of Achrafieh, in what was previously called Le Quartier, that
the private mansion of
Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock is located, nestling in a bosky bower. Surrounded with
some luxurious homes
of the 19th and the 20th centuries which resisted the invasion of modernism,
this architectural jewel is
a museum
in itself. |
|
|
| With its majestic marble dual staircase and openwork
banisters, the elegant white façade is |
|
 |
|
 |
| decorated
with high windows and colored stain-glass windows. It represents a beautiful
example of eclecticism which
subtly combines Italian and Oriental art. It was thus necessary to preserve the spirit of the
residence, its charm and its character, while adapting it to the requirements of
modern museology. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Archives - The Lounge -
The
Library - Since 1961
Moving Forward - Activities - Retrospective
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back to Museums
Back to Where@Lebanon.com |
|
|
