Vlaamse Kunstcollectie

Info

The Flemish Art Collection is a partnership between the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), the Groeninge Museum Bruges, the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK), M - Museum Leuven and Mu.ZEE Ostend.

Geschiedenis

The Flemish Art Collection (Vlaamse Kunstcollectie) is the structural partnership amongst five fine-arts museums in Flanders: the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, the Groeninge Museum Bruges, the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, M - Museum Leuven and Mu.ZEE in Ostend.

Together, they offer a fine overview of art that was produced in the Southern Netherlands and Belgium from the Middle Ages to the Twenty-First Century. Their collections are comprised of superior works that can be considered world heritage, including such artists as Jan Van Eyck, Peter Paul Rubens, Antoon Van Dyck and James Ensor.

Over the years, the museums have gathered expertise on their collections. Among their staff members are art-historians who are part of an international network and are capable of placing art history in a new light. This expertise has resulted in quality exhibitions such as Memling and the Portrait (Groeninge Museum, 2005), British Vision (Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, 2007), Flemish Primitives: The best diptychs (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, 2008), Goya, Redon, Ensor: Grotesque Paintings and Drawings (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, 2009), Rogier van der Weyden. The passion of the master (M - Museum Leuven, 2009), Bij Ensor op bezoek (Mu.ZEE Ostend, 2010), Van Eyck to Dürer (Groeninge Museum, 2010), The World of George Minne and Maurice Maeterlinck (Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, 2011), Sensation and Sensuality. Rubens and his legacy (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, Royal Academy of Arts London, BOZAR, Brussels 2014), Lili Dujourie - Folds in time (Mu.ZEE Ostend, 2015), Verhaeren Revealed (Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, 2016) and In search of Utopia (Museum - M Leuven, 2016).

Part of the Flemish Art Collection’s mission is to bundle collections and expertise in order to enhance the international status of the three museums. The statutory and decreed mission of the Flemish Art Collection is “the international promotion of the Flemish historical art collections.” The Flemish heritage community is aware of the collections and the museums that accommodate these collections. The people of that community also quickly find their way to the various websites and social media of the Flemish museums. This is not or to a lesser extent the case with the international public. It is for this reason that the Flemish Art Collection maintains a uniquely English-language Facebook profile. More or less half of the scope of the profile deals with people outside of Flanders, and by extension, outside of Belgium. In addition, our various websites reach a gross median of 50 percent foreign visitors. That we use English for this profile and these websites as the official language should thus not be strange. Moreover, a native English speaker translates all of our websites. The websites are always completely accessible in English and Dutch.