Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

The choice is as varied and rich as the collection itself and offers a chronological overview. Freedom and experimentation are the common thread running through the exhibition presenting three main themes. The first one is the emancipation of line and colour and the evolution towards a radically abstract visual language. The second theme concerns the use of materials, the change in the relationship to the object and the perspective of conceptual art. And the last one deals with the changing relationship between man and the world in the twentieth century and its existential questions. This exhibition is visually dynamic. It sheds new light on the museum collections and invites visitors to rediscover the great names of international modernism and its Belgian representatives.

In Patio +2, a complementary section evokes the aesthetic upheaval caused by the American minimalist movement. This part of the exhibition benefits from the loan of three exceptional works by the artist Frank Stella (born in 1936) from a private collection. Also on show (in the Bernheim Room): Bill Viola's "Purification", an impressive video installation conceived as a diptych. [with the support of blackflag]

On level -3, the museum's recent contemporary art acquisitions are displayed, some of them for the very first time: Roger Ballen, Georges Meurant, Chéri Samba, Agnès Guillaume, Rinus van de Velde, Emmanuel Van der Auwera...

BE MODERN: a video series

Parallel to the exhibition “Be Modern”, we put modern and contemporary art into perspective. Different questions confront the artworks with both current events and artistic tradition, creating a sometimes unexpected dialogue. Curators, conservators, art historians, but also regular folks of all ages and horizons share their view of our collections!

With the support of Visit.Brussels & Belspo

DISCOVER THE PLAYLIST