Top Belgian artists from private collections meet Old Masters at the KMSKA
In addition to Hans Op de Beeck: Nocturnal Journey, the KMSKA is opening two additional exhibitions. From April 4, 2025, visitors can explore Collected with Vision, where masterpieces from private collections engage in dialogue with Old Masters from the permanent collection. Meanwhile, the Studio Rubens restoration project continues to make significant progress. From March 20, the focus exhibition Enthroned Madonna – From Sketch to Masterpiece highlights Rubens’ creative process as the restoration enters its final phase.
Collected with Vision. Private Collections in Dialogue with the Old Masters
In Collected with Vision, the KMSKA places art created after 1966 from Belgian private collections in dialogue with masterpieces from its own collection. The collaboration with Geukens & De Vil Projects results in a surprising infusion of works by internationally renowned artists. Names such as Andy Warhol, Francis Alÿs, and Cindy Sherman come face to face with icons like Peter Paul Rubens, Jan van Eyck, and Hans Memling. These combinations open up new perspectives, inviting visitors to reflect and reinterpret timeless themes such as emotion, beauty, and expression. Visionary Collected offers an opportunity to discover connections, gain fresh insights, and be inspired by the enduring power of art.
Moreover, the exhibition emphasizes the role of private collections and the importance of collecting. Museums, as cultural institutions, make art widely accessible. Private collectors also contribute to society’s cultural wealth by making their collections broadly available to the public. Collected in Vision is an inspiring example of how both parties complement and support each other in multiple ways.
"Collected with Vision is a large-scale group exhibition at the KMSKA, in which leading figures from postwar and contemporary art engage in a powerful dialogue with the museum’s collection. The confrontation between past and present demonstrates how contemporary art builds upon history. Thanks to Belgian collectors, hidden treasures from private collections are brought together with museum masterpieces. The exhibition celebrates art as a universal language that continues to inspire, captivate, and surprise." – Carmen Willems, General Director of KMSKA
Studio Rubens: Enthroned Madonna – From Sketch to Masterpiece
Visitors can now also explore the focus exhibition Studio Rubens: Enthroned Madonna – From Sketch to Masterpiece in the Rubens Hall at the KMSKA. Peter Paul Rubens was a master at organizing his large workshop, efficiently producing complex works. His preparation was meticulous, with numerous sketches and oil studies. This exhibition sheds new light on Rubens’ careful preparations for this painting—a rare opportunity, as an exceptional number of studies for this work have been preserved. For the first time, these studies are reunited with the altarpiece in the exhibition. No fewer than four intriguing oil sketches and a later studio copy bear witness to Rubens’ creative exploration of this dynamic composition.
“After a year and a half of intensive work at the KMSKA, the restoration of the Enthroned Madonna Adored by Saints is now entering its final stages. This project has been fully realized with private funding. One of the museum’s greatest masterpieces is regaining the color and brilliance it had in Rubens’ time—a truly unique experience,” says Luk Lemmens, Chairman of KMSKA. On March 3, the painting was placed in its correct orientation for the last time, marking the beginning of the final steps in the restoration. Experts will work on retouching until the summer of 2025, after which a final layer of varnish will be applied. Visitors will then be able to admire the gigantic 5 by 4 meter, 350-kilogram canvas in its original color palette. In the autumn, Studio Rubens will begin the restoration of Rubens’ The Adoration of the Magi.
