Experience

ANTWERP | Museum Mayer van den Bergh opens exhibition ‘Public Favourites’, from Mad Meg to Delft Blue, look at art through other people’s eyes

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Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp is closed for a major renovation and expansion. Fortunately, this does not mean that the curtain falls on the collection of the 19th-century collector Fritz Mayer van den Bergh. On Friday 20 June 2025, the exhibition ‘Public Favourites. An intimate look at masterpieces’ opens in the nearby Maagdenhuis. 

43 museum lovers chose a work that they cannot miss during the closure. Look at the collection through their eyes and (re)discover many top works.

A new look, a new meaning

Comfort. Pride. Inspiration and hope. The masterpieces from the collection of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh also stir up many emotions today. 43 well-known and lesser-known museum lovers tell what moves them. 

In this way, many works of art suddenly get a contemporary interpretation. This participatory approach provides refreshing insights that far exceed the art historical significance of the works. 

Follow the gaze of musician Bent Van Looy along the ‘Hands of Henriëtte’, reflect on the humour in ‘Delft Blue’ with jewellery designer Katrin Wouters and admire a 17th-century still life by Daniël Seghers through the eyes of student Mika De Hooghe. 

Thanks to youth work Girls in the City, the iconic ‘Dulle Griet’ or ‘Mad Meg‘ by Pieter Bruegel I is given a new dose of feminine resilience. Esohe Weyden gives her poetic interpretation of a 17th-century engagement ring in the form of a brand-new city poem.

Alderwoman for Culture Lien Van de Kelder (Vooruit): “Public Favourites, literally: favourite pieces selected by Antwerp residents from the fantastic collection of Mayer van den Bergh can still be admired during the renovations. This participatory project with Antwerp residents is unique, in this way we take care of, among other things, the Dulle Griet in the house that has always cared for the vulnerable: the Maagdenhuis.”

Why 43 participants?

Collector Fritz Mayer van den Bergh died when he was 43. His mother Henriëtte symbolically let this number live on. She founded the museum as a tribute and built 43 homes for underprivileged families, as it were social housing avant la lettre. Today, 43 people and organisations highlight their favourite work.

The exhibition ‘Public Favourites’ presents a total of 90 works from the museum collection. 22 of them are on the Flemish Top Pieces List.

Guest at the Maagdenhuis

The Museum Mayer van den Bergh has been closed for renovation since 27 April 2025. The museum building, which mother Henriëtte Van den Bergh had built to measure for her son’s collection, will be reunited with the former family residence. 

The expanded museum site will offer more comfort for visitors and the collection. During the closure, the Museum Mayer van den Bergh will be a guest at the Maagdenhuis, just 100 metres from the Fritz and Henriëtte museum.

Practical

‘Public Favourites. An intimate look at masterpieces’. Guest at the Maagdenhuis: Lange Gasthuisstraat 33, 2000 Antwerp. From Friday 20 June 2025 to Sunday 12 September 2027. From Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 AM to 5 PM.

More information and tickets: www.museummayervandenbergh.be.

Art and museums in Antwerp

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