Flemish Masters in situ: where art is at home
Van Eyck. Rubens. The Flemish surrealists and expressionists. In Flanders, old and modern Masters are at home. It is here where they lived and worked. Where they found their inspiration. And it is here where you can still see many of their works - sometimes even in unique places.
The Flemish Masters often created their works for a specific location: a church, a monastery, a town hall, a castle, etc. Many of those pieces have since moved to museums, but some can still be viewed at their original location. A unique experience. You stand where the artist must have stood and you see what he saw: the exact spot where his work would come, the lighting, the space around it. You cannot get closer to the essence of a work of art and to the soul of a place.
In Flanders you can still find dozens of paintings, sculptures, altarpieces and other works at the place for which they were originally created or where they have often been for centuries. Sometimes in our famous art cities and sometimes in lesser-known but equally beautiful towns and villages. In the past, they often remained somewhat under the radar, but now we have mapped them out for you - literally.
Fortunately, they are easy to get to: after all Flanders is not large and has excellent connections. You can also enjoy cycling and walking here and, thanks to the network of nodes, you can plan the route of your choice.
Discover Flanders and visit our Masters in their ‘homes’ and in our museums. You can find convivial holiday accommodation for the whole family everywhere. And travellers with a disability are especially welcome: in Flanders, we prioritise accessibility.
Curious about which works can be seen in original and unique locations in Flanders? Here is everything you need to know.
Our partners
‘Flemish Masters in situ’ is a project of VISITFLANDERS. In our Travel to Tomorrow vision, the flourishing destination takes centre stage. That is a place where everyone benefits from tourism: visitors, residents, entrepreneurs and the location itself. This project nicely illustrates how such a flourishing destination can look in practice.
For ‘Flemish Masters in situ’, we are working with two partners: Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen and PARCUM.
Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen (OKV)
Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen (OKV) publishes a bimonthly magazine with information and explanations about art and heritage in Flanders. On the website, you will find all articles from the past to the present, supplemented with fascinating contributions about current exhibitions and heritage news.
OKV came up with the concept of ‘Flemish Masters in situ’. In 2019, it set up a network of 45 sites where curious visitors can get to know artworks at their original location. OKV maintains the network and continues to cooperate on opening up new sites in Flanders and Brussels.
PARCUM
PARCUM, on the site of Park Abbey in Leuven, is a museum and centre of expertise for religious art and culture. The museum presents temporary themed exhibitions at the confluence of religion, art and culture, often using never-before-seen pieces from churches, abbeys and monasteries. The expertise centre combines knowledge of religious heritage in Flanders and Brussels.
As a partner of ‘Flemish Masters in situ’, PARCUM is building a network of religious heritage sites in Leuven and the surrounding area. These sites showcase hidden or forgotten treasures in churches, monasteries or abbeys, while telling the story of the place and community in which these works are revered.
