KMSKA: a European top museum

The KMKSA (in Dutch)(opens in new window) manages a top collection of visual arts masterpieces from the Southern Netherlands from the 14^th to the 20^th century. The museum has undergone a thorough renovation and expansion over the past 11 years and reopened in September 2022.

The KMSKA strives to be a museum of European excellence

Flemish Resilience is accelerating investments in cultural infrastructure projects, such as the KMSKA.

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMKSA) closed in 2011 for a comprehensive renovation as specified in a dedicated master plan. Four patios or courtyards of the existing building have been converted into a new museum volume. An artistic lego block in a 19th-century shell.

The museum manages a collection of visual arts masterpieces from the Southern Netherlands from the 14^th to the 20^th century, supplemented with other international masterpieces. After more than a decade of waiting, we will soon be able to admire the collection again, which is great news! This year, the KMSKA will re-open its doors.

The building returned to its original grandeur

Visitors will once again be able to follow the original itinerary in the existing building as they walk through the restored stately public galleries of the museum. The museum will take visitors on an adventurous journey through two worlds, two contrasting and conversing museums, namely the restored 19^th century part and the 21^st century part.

The metamorphosis was not restricted to the interior of the museum. With a restored façade - including a new mosaic at the entrance - and the creation of a real museum garden, a visit to the museum will prove a total experience.

The collection

The new presentation of the permanent collection exhibits more than 650 works of art both from the museum’s own collection and long-term loaned works. Many works of art are still at external locations. Before they are installed, the KMSKA will bring them back to the museum.

Before the museum closed, the collection was scattered across seven depots. The original bombproof bunker and nuclear shelter from the Cold War, for example, had to be cleared.

The new KMSKA depot has 3,660 m² of racks for paintings on two floors. The room is dust- and vibration-free and boasts state-of-the-art climate control. It is ideal for keeping safe the valuable collection, which includes Rubens’ colossal altarpieces. The depot stores around 1,300 works of art that will not be loaned out for exhibitions during the renovation works, or that are too fragile or too large to be moved. Completion of the depot was the first milestone of the master plan.

The museum in figures

• Number of museum galleries: 50, including 37 for the museum’s own collection and 13 for temporary exhibitions
• Number of exhibited works of art: 654 including 454 paintings and 200 sculptures. 25 works are highlights, 100 core works
• Heaviest painting in the collection: 645 kg
• Lightest painting: 0.3 kg

• Estimated final budget from restoration to conservation: 100 million euros