The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. They include six museums: the

Oldmasters Museum The Oldmasters Museum (french: Musée Oldmasters, nl, Oldmasters Museum) is an art museum in Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to European painters from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It is one of the constituent museums of the Royal Museums of Fi ...

, the

Magritte Museum The Magritte Museum (french: Musée Magritte, nl, Magritte Museum) is an art museum in central Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to the work of the Belgian surrealist artist, René Magritte. It is one of the constituent museums of the Royal Museu ...

, the

Fin-de-Siècle Museum The Fin-de-Siècle Museum (french: Musée Fin-de-Siècle, nl, Fin-de-Siècle Museum, "Museum of the Turn of the Century") is a museum in Brussels, Belgium. It is dedicated to the full spectrum of the arts of the period between 1884, when the ...

, the Modern Museum, the Antoine Wiertz Museum and the Constantin Meunier Museum. The Royal Museums contains over 20,000 drawings, sculptures, and paintings, covering a period extending from the early 15th century to the present, such as those of Flemish old masters like Bruegel, Rogier van der Weyden, Robert Campin,

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

Jacob Jordaens Jacob (Jacques) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer known for his history paintings, genre scenes and portraits. After Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, he was the leading Fle ...

, and

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

, making it the most popular art institution and most visited museum complex in Belgium. The Magritte Museum houses the world's largest collection of the works of the surrealist René Magritte.

History

Early history

The museum was founded in 1801 by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and opened in 1803 as the Museum of Fine Arts of Brussels (french: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, link=no, nl, Museum voor Schone Kunsten van Brussel, link=no), occupying fourteen rooms of the former

Palace of Charles of Lorraine The Palace of Charles of Lorraine (french: Palais de Charles de Lorraine, nl, Paleis van Karel van Lotharingen) is a neoclassical palace in the Royal Quarter of Brussels, Belgium. Its construction started in 1757 to serve as the residence of ...

, known as the "Old Court". The first collection, the core of the current collections of Ancient Art, consisted of a selection of "old deposits", works of art seized by the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

but abandoned (1798), increased by two shipments from Paris (1802 and 1811), and returned works taken away by the Republic (1815). Later, during the Dutch period, King William I of the Netherlands sponsored an expansion of the collection (1817 and 1819) and had two wings built on the current / (the so-called Palace of National Industry, opened in 1830). Following

Belgian Independence The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. T ...

, the museum, which had belonged to the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well a ...

since 1811, was ceded to the Belgian State in 1841. The transfer of the Contemporary Art collection from the Ministry of the Interior in 1834 is at the origin of the Modern Art section. In 1845, it was decided, by royal decree, that the museum was to receive works of art of deceased and living Belgian artists. A national commission was established to select important works of art. The first president of the commission was the Count de Beaufort. Other members were

Gustaf Wappers Egide Charles Gustave, Baron Wappers (23 August 18036 December 1874) was a Belgian painter. His work is generally considered to be Flemish and he signed his work with the Dutch form of his name, Gustaaf Wappers.Note: The painter is known by one ...

, François-Joseph Navez, Guillaume Geefs,

Eugène Simonis Louis-Eugène Simonis (11 July 1810, in Liège – 11 July 1893, in Koekelberg) was a Belgian sculptor. Career Simonis studied under François-Joseph Dewandre at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Liège and at the age of nineteen went to I ...

, Tilman-François Suys and

Luigi Calamatta ] Luigi Antoine Josephe Calamatta (21 June 1801 – 8 March 1869 in Milan) was an Italian painter and engraver. He was born at Civitavecchia, in the Papal States. Biography Orphaned early, he went to live with an uncle, then moved to Rome to live ...

. Many of these founding members were active in the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium. Until 1878, the Brussels Salon, a periodic exhibition of work by living artists, took place in the former apartments of Charles Alexander of Lorraine. This situation was not ideal because the permanent collection had to be temporarily stored or covered during the exhibition. In addition, the exhibitors complained that all paintings were not lit equally well. Renovation works were carried out so that in 1830 a Great Gallery could open with a

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

. Nevertheless, low-hanging works were still difficult to see. In 1851, the exhibition was held in a temporary construction in the courtyard, before returning to its traditional location until 1881, when the first rooms of the new Museum of Fine Arts could be used. This museum remained the location for all subsequent editions. The works of the Old Masters were finally moved from the Palace of Charles of Lorraine to the / in 1887, giving a new purpose to

Alphonse Balat Alphonse Hubert François Balat (15 May 1818 – 16 September 1895) was a Belgian architect. Life Balat was born in Gochenée. He studied at the Academie of Namur and obtained his degree in architecture from the Academy of Antwerp in 1838. ...

's Palace of Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, link=no, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, link=no), which had opened in 1880 (not to be confused with the current

Centre for Fine Arts The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The b ...

). File:Salon1830bxl.jpg, The Brussels Salon of 1830 in the

, rendered by

Jean-Baptiste Madou Jean-Baptiste Madou (3 February 1796 – 31 March 1877) was a Belgian painter and lithographer. Life Madou was born in Brussels. He studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts and was a pupil of Pierre Joseph Célestin François. While ...

File:StroobantsLorreinen.png, The palace in 1846, illustration from ''Guide pittoresque dans Bruxelles'' File:Museum Bruxelles 1880 Dumas.png, Map of the palace and Museums district in 1880

20th and 21st centuries

The museum continued to expand in subsequent years, benefitting from increases through purchases, donations or bequests. In 1913, the De Grez donation enriched the collection with more than 4,000 works dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries. In 1919, the museum changed its name to become the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, link=no, nl, Museum voor Schone Kunsten van België, link=no). This name was changed again in 1927 to its current name: the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, link=no, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, link=no). The museum's redevelopment by the architect from 1923 to 1930 allowed a new presentation of the collections. The Museum of Modern Art was closed in 1959 and the "Old Court" was partially demolished in 1960 for the construction of the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...

(KBR). From 1962 to 1978, the temporary exhibition halls of the five-level neoclassical Hôtel du Lotto (also known as the Hôtel Altenloh), on the Place Royale/Koningsplein, were used. The extension of the Museum of Ancient Art combined with that of the

National Archives of Belgium The National Archives of Belgium (french: Archives générales du Royaume, nl, Algemeen Rijksarchief, both ) is the main depository of the State Archives of Belgium (''Archives de l'État''; ''Rijksarchief'') and is located on /, next to the Mon ...

, behind the facades of the former Palace of National Industry, allowed the creation of a new set of rooms and an auditorium. Planned in 1962 by the architects Roland Delers and Jacques Bellemans, it was inaugurated in phases in 1972 and 1974. Towards the Place Royale, the Hôtel Argenteau, the Hôtel Gresham and the Hôtel Altenloh were incorporated in turn in 1965, 1967 and 1969 respectively. An in-depth renovation of Balat's palace was carried out in successive stages from 1977. At the same time, in 1978, the construction of the underground part of the Museum of Modern Art began, with an entrance via the Hôtel Altenloh. The complex was inaugurated in 1984. In 2004, the museum embarked on a restructuring programme with the aim of making its collections more accessible and reaching a wider audience. The museum's curator, Michel Draguet, wished to bring together different collections of federal institutions and set up specific museums that better highlighted a particular sub-collection. In 2009, the

was established for this purpose. In 2013, the

opened in the underground halls, which had housed the Museum of Modern Art since 1984. The closure of the Museum of Modern Art, however, was met with much protest, but this also marked the start of the concretisation of a new international museum for modern and

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

at a different location in Brussels. This new museum should be able to open by 2022. The collection would consist of the works of art from the closed museum, from loans of private collectors and from the collections of large banking institutions. File:Bruxelles (1910) (14750595166).jpg, The Palace of Fine Arts, the museum's second (current) location, in 1910 File:Bruxelles (1910) (14586897020).jpg, Interior of the Palace of Fine Arts in 1910 File:BRX-musée-magritte.2.JPG, Installation of the

in the Hôtel du Lotto, on the Place Royale/Koningsplein, in 2008

Museums

There are six museums connected with the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium; two of them are located in the main building—the

or Museum of Ancient Art—whose collections cover European art until 1750, and the Museum of Modern Art. These museums are situated in the downtown Royal Quarter, on the Coudenberg, in Brussels. The

, opened in 2009, and

, opened in 2013, are adjacent to the main building. The smaller Constantin Meunier Museum and the Antoine Wiertz Museum, dedicated to these two Belgian artists, are located a few kilometers from the city centre.

Oldmasters Museum

The Oldmasters Museum has an extensive collection of European paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. The bulk of the collection is formed around Flemish painting, presented in chronological order. For example, there are valuable panels by the

Flemish Primitives Early Netherlandish painting, traditionally known as the Flemish Primitives, refers to the work of artists active in the Burgundian Netherlands, Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period. ...

(including Bruegel, Rogier van der Weyden, Robert Campin (''the Master of Flémalle''), Hieronymus Bosch,

, and

). The museum is also proud of its "

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

Room", which houses more than twenty paintings by the artist. The painting ''

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus ''Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'' is a painting in oil on canvas measuring currently displayed in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels. It was long thought to be by the leading painter of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance pai ...

'', long-attributed to Bruegel, is located there and forms the subject of W. H. Auden's famous poem '' Musée des Beaux Arts'', named after the museum. There are also constant temporary exhibitions. File:The main hall of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium 1.jpg, View from the upper floor of the

File:KMSKB 2011 Room Jordaens.jpg, The

Room File:Pieter Bruegel de Oude - De val van Icarus.jpg, ''

'',

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...

Magritte Museum

The Magritte Museum has one of the richest collections of paintings by the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte, including some 200 original paintings, drawings and sculptures, such as ''The Return'', ''Scheherazade'' and ''

The Empire of Light ''The Empire of Light'' (French: ''L'Empire des lumières'') is the title of a succession of paintings by René Magritte.Kantrowitz, Jonathan (25 November 2017), René Magritte: The Fifth Season'. Art History News. (accessed 19 December 2020) T ...

''. The collection is the result of astute purchases and generous donations, mostly coming from the collection of the artist's widow, Georgette Magritte, and from Irene Hamoir Scutenaire, who was his primary collector. Inaugurated on 20 May 2009, the museum opened on 2 June 2009. It is housed in the Hôtel du Lotto, on the Place Royale, a stone's throw away from the Oldmasters Museum. File:Musée Magritte, Brussels, in June 2016.jpg, Hôtel du Lotto or Hôtel Altenloh, home of the

File:20191019 bruxelles076.jpg, Entrance File:20191019 bruxelles100.jpg, Exhibition space

Fin-de-Siècle Museum

Inaugurated on 6 December 2013, the Fin-de-Siècle Museum presents collections of works of art from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, when Brussels was a unique artistic crossroads and the capital of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

. Artists represented in the museum's collection include Constantin Meunier, James Ensor,

Henri Evenepoel Henri-Jacques-Edouard Evenepoel (3 October 1872 in Nice – 27 December 1899 in Paris) was a Belgian artist whose most important works are associated with Fauvism. Life and career Evenepoel first studied art in Brussels at the Académie Royale ...

Fernand Khnopff Fernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff (12 September 1858 – 12 November 1921) was a Belgian symbolist painter. Life Youth and training Fernand Khnopff was born to a wealthy family that was part of the high bourgeoisie for generations. Khnopf ...

Leon Spilliaert Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring to ...

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

and

George Minne George (Georges) Minne (born ''Georgius Joannes Leonardus Minne''; 30 August 1866 – 18 February 1941) was a Belgian artist and sculptor famous for his idealized depictions of man's inner spiritual conflicts, including the "Kneeling Youth" scu ...

. The museum is housed in the Hôtel des Brasseurs or Hôtel Gresham, right next to the Oldmasters Museum, also on the Place Royale. File:Hôtel Gresham - extérieur 5.JPG, Hôtel des Brasseurs or Hôtel Gresham, home of the

File:Govaerts Gresham Hall 1.jpg, Entrance File:Toulouse-Lautrec - Le Divan japonais, INHA.jpg, ''Divan Japonais'',

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the ...

, 1893 File:Louis Majorelle-Vitrine bibliothèque nénuphar.jpg, Waterlily bookcase, Louis Majorelle, 1902

Wiertz Museum

The life and work of

Antoine Wiertz Antoine Joseph Wiertz (22 February 1806 – 18 June 1865) was a Belgian painter, sculptor, lithographer and art writer. He is known for his religious, historical, and allegorical works and portraits. He was an eccentric figure who originally was ...

are honoured in the artist's former studio at 62, / in Ixelles, in the heart of the Leopold Quarter, near Brussels-Luxembourg railway station. This unique museum offers a striking view of the monumental paintings, statues and sketches marked by the Belgian

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

movement. The construction of this workshop-museum was agreed in 1850 between Wiertz and the Belgian Government. During the year following the artist's death, the entire collection of works then in his studio was bequeathed to the Belgian State. Since 1868, the Wiertz Museum has been part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. File:Musée Wiertz, Bruxelles.JPG, Entrance to the Wiertz Museum File:Main Hall of the Wiertz Museum 2.jpg, Main hall File:Le Triomphe de la lumière by Antoine Wiertz.jpg, ''The Triumph of Light'',

, 1862–1870

Meunier Museum

Located in Constantin Meunier's former house and workshop at 59, / in Ixelles, the Meunier Museum houses 150 works and documents by the realist painter and sculptor. Meunier had this beautiful house-studio built towards the end of his life. The house was acquired by the Belgian State in 1936 and opened to the public in 1939. Since 1986, it has been attached to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, and subsequently renovated. File:Elsene, Abdijstraat 59 (Voorgevel) (Eclectische stijl) (Oeuvre van architect Ernest Delune).jpg, Meunier Museum File:Main Hall of the Meunier Museum – No. 2.jpg, Main hall

Directors

The chief curators or directors of the museum have been: * 1947–1957: Paul Fierens * 1957–1961: Claire Janson * 1961–1984:

Philippe Roberts-Jones Baron Philippe Roberts-Jones (8 November 1924 – 9 August 2016) was a Belgian art historian who was the head of conservation of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. A member of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgiu ...

* 1985–1989: Henri Pauwels * 2005–present: Michel Draguet

Visitors

For many years now, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium has been the most popular art institution in Belgium. The museums had a total of approximately 715,000 visitors in 2010. This puts the museum in the top 100 most visited museums in the world and makes it the most visited museum complex in Belgium. Thanks to the opening of the

, the number of unique visitors has remarkably increased since 2009. In 2015, the Museum had its best attended year so far with a total of 767,355 visitors. The Magritte Museum received about 425,000 visitors in 2010, making it the most successful part of the museums. This strategy was accompanied by a significant increase in corporate funding. From 2005 until 2017, the number of visitors has doubled and the turnover tripled, thereby reducing the State contribution from 54.4% of the global budget to 32%. This was achieved during a period of very severe budgetary cuts: 11% in 2013 and 2014, 30% for the period 2015–2019.

References

Notes

External links

* (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

)
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* {{Authority control Museums in Brussels Art museums and galleries in Belgium Order of Arts and Letters of Spain recipients Art museums established in 1887 1887 establishments in Belgium Museum associations and consortia Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage City of Brussels