Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

152 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG REGION BY REGION

GALLERY GUIDE

The gallery is divided into two floors.

Flemish Old Masters and 19th-century

painters are housed on the first floor,

which also has a an area devoted to

sculpture. The ground floor focusses

on James Ensor and the 20th century,

with a large portion set aside for

temporary exhibitions. Each room

is lettered and visitors may view the

exhibits chronologically.

Antwerp: Koninklijk Museum

voor Schone Kunsten

The city’s largest and most impressive fine-art collection
is exhibited in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone
Kunsten, which occupies a massive late 19th-century
Neo-Classical building. The permanent collection contains
works spanning six centuries. The earlier collection on the
upper floor begins with medieval Flemish painting and
continues through to the 19th century, with the Antwerp
Trio of Rubens, van Dyck and Jordaens well represented.
At ground level, modern exhibits include the work of
Belgian artists Ensor, Magritte and Delvaux, as well as
a major collection of Rik Wouters’s art. Tissot and
van Gogh are among the foreign artists on display.

Façade of Main Entrance
Building began on the imposing
museum in 1884. The Neo-Classical
façade, with its vast pillars, features
winged women charioteers on
each side. It was opened in 1890.

. Woman Ironing (1912)
A domestic scene painted by Rik Wouters is
animated by bright Fauvist colours. This was
a productive period for Wouters who painted
60 canvases in that year.

Ground floor

Main entrance

First floor

Madame Récamier

(1967), Magritte’s

macabre version of

David’s paint ing, is a

classic Surrealist work.

In The Pink Bows

(1936), Paul Delvaux’s

dream-like style shows

the influence of Freud’s

psychoanalytic theories

on Surrealist painting.

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp266–7 and pp292–4