Mu.ZEE - Kunstmuseum aan Zee

Mu.ZEE is an abbreviation of "Kunstmuseum aan Zee" ("Art Museum at the Sea"). • Illustration — "Bathing women" (ca. 1920) by Théo van Rysselberghe

• Name — Mu.ZEE • Native Name — Kunstmuseum aan Zee • Established — 2008 • Location — Ostend, West Flanders, Belgium • Type — Art museum and gallery • Collections — Belgian art from 1830 onwards • Collection Size — 3,500 • Architect — Gaston Eysselinck • Director — Phillip Van den Bossche • Parking — On site • Website — www.muzee.be

The history of the Museum of Fine Arts of the Stad Ostend starts in 1885, with a large gift by a private art collector. In 1897, a museum was created to house the collection. An air raid in 1940 destroyed the library and archive and some 400 works of art. A new building was opened in 1958. The collection is largely centered on artists from Ostend, mainly James Ensor, Constant Permeke and Léon Spilliaert. The collection of the Provincial Museum started in 1957, with the regular acquisition of works by young artists. In 1960, the house of Constant Permeke and a collection of his work was bought, and turned into the Permekemuseum. From 1962 until 1985, the main collection was exhibited in Bruges and Ypres, until a definitive location was found in 1986 in Ostend.

Source: • 2008: Marc Camille Chaimowicz • 2009: Jan Vercruysse • 2009: Jef Geys • 2009: Daan van Golden • 2010: James Ensor • 2011: On Kawaras • 2012: Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven • 2012: Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys • 2013: André Cadere

The museum is located in a protected modernist building by architect:nl:Gaston Eysselinck from 1947, originally a department store. From 1986 on it was the location of the PMMK, and in 2008 it became the seat of Mu.ZEE.

The collection is mainly focused on Belgian art from 1850 to the present, with special attention to the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century. The museum has about 3500 objects (paintings, drawings and etchings), including 180 works by Léon Spilliaert, 350 works by Paul Joostens, and a large collection of works by Ensor, Permeke and:nl:Jean Brusselmans. Other artists represented include Georges Vantongerloo, Roger Raveel, Raoul De Keyser, Panamarenko, Jacques Verduyn, Wim Delvoye, Jan Fabre, Philip Aguirre y Otegui, Karel Appel, Marcel Broodthaers, Antoon De Clerck, Etienne Elias, Luc Tuymans:nl:Walter Leblanc, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Pierre Alechinsky, Guy van Bossche, Amedee Coutier, René Magritte, George Minne, Emil Salkin:nl:Jef Verheyen, Vic Gentils and Paul Delvaux.