Groeningemuseum in Bruges

Six centuries of Belgian visual arts in one location, with work by Flemish Primitives such as Hans Memling, Jan van Eyck and Gerard David, neo-classicism by Joseph Odevaere and Joseph Ducq, Flemish expressionism, and 20th-century modern art by  Roger Raveel, René Magritte and Raoul De Keyser

Flemish primitives

In Groeningemuseum you will find paintings by Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes, Gerard David, Hieronymus Bosch, Ambrosius Benson, Lancelot Blondeel, father Pourbus, and his sons and their contemporaries. They were masters who came from the Low Countries and often worked in Bruges and completed assignments there in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Several of those paintings are regarded as milestones in the history of European art.

A bird’s-Eye view of six centuries of visual arts

Apart from work by Pieter Bruegel the Younger and Peter Lely, the museum also possesses lots of historical items and flower pieces and various monumental canvases by Jacob van Oost.

The paintings by the Bruges neo-classicists from the latter decades of the 18th and 19th centuries form an impressive ensemble. Artists such as Joseph-Benoît Suvée, Jean-Bernard Duvivier, Joseph Ducq, Joseph Odevaere, and François Joseph Kinsoen did their formal training in Bruges and thereafter built up international careers with their works of history pieces and refined portraits.

The 19th and 20th centuries are represented by work from Edmond van Hove, Ferdinand Khnopff, Emile Claus, and paintings by the Flemish expressionists, by work from Permeke, De Smet, Van de Woestyne and Brusselmans. Groeningemuseum possesses almost all editions of Marcel Broodthaers’ printed work, six works by Georges Van Tongerloo, paintings by Paul Delvaux and René Magritte, and post-war work by Raoul De Keyser and Roger Raveel.

Temporary exhibitions

Groeningemuseum is a dynamic institution with alternating presentations, focus exhibitions, and research projects which culminate in exhibitions with an international allure.