Address: Place Royale 3
Phone: 32 2 508 32 11

http://www.fine-arts-museum.be/site/FR/default.asp

Traveler Reviews

It's worth it
Reviewed by charkleroad on Aug 26, 2010


It is a pretty large museum with lots of content. The ancient art exhibit is in a very nice part of the building - big and open with marble columns through out. I hoped to see some of the work by Peter Paul Ruben since we missed the opening time of Ruben's house in Antwerp. But his work were removed due to " persistent negative weather". Modern art is located in a different part of the building below ground. The rooms look like warehouses. There were few pieces by Dali and Miro. There is a separate charge if you want to see Museum Rene Magritte. I did see it and enjoyed. It was comprehensive. It took almost an hour just to quickly go through this part. You can learn about his life and his paintings at the same time. It took me total of 3 hours to go through the entire museum. The place had fair amount of people. However it was not crowded.

I came for the Bruegels.
Reviewed by SeeMyW0rld on May 2, 2009


I love art museums, so I was eager to visit this one on my recent trip to Belgium. I'd read a book on Peter Bruegel, and knew that the museum housed a few of his great works. In that regard, I was not disappointed. There is one room that houses several Bruegels plus a number of works by his two sons (Peter the Younger and Jan). I find these works delightful, and as they are quintessentially Belgian, it's worth a trip to the museum to see them. Some nice Rubenses were also on display. We were a bit rushed, so didn't make it to the modern art section. It's a small museum, but easily navigable and home to several works worth coming out to visit.

Great gallery
Reviewed by michaeld39 on Oct 25, 2006


There are some real gems here. On my trips to Brussels I've only been able to spend a couple of hours in the gallerys and have concentrated on the modern half of the museum. The quality of the surrealist section is really high. The material on the first couple of floors (the gallery descends rather ascends) has always been the stuff that fascinates me. If you see the monk boy hitting the bell with his head then you are luckier than me. Many paintings/installations are by artists who are not part of the canon of C20th European art but whose work is mostly astonishing. BTW if you vist the gallery the morning after a few Trappist ales and descend through all floors of the gallery your head will be in a truly strange place. One time I visited, the reception staff sold me a entrance ticket at 12.55pm and then the attendants threw everybody out at 1.00 for the lunch hour! Surreal, European public sector or both?

A serene treasure trove
Reviewed by Now_Voyager on Aug 18, 2004


Maybe it was because everyone was out of town en vacances -- but it was a pleasure to find a museum that should have been thronging (and would have been, here in New York), but instead offered plenty of space for comfort and contemplation. The wealth of well-known Flemish painters was expected, but the rooms of 19th Belgian artists a lovely surprise, the room devoted to Ensor a revelation. I went back twice to this lovely, serene, gracious space twice during a brief trip to Brussels, and look forward to doing so again.

???????
Reviewed by ????6 on Aug 29, 2010


????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????