Before the current Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao, there existed in the city two institutions founded at the beginning of the 20th century that were divided between The artistic collections are organized chronologically, one of them housing the ancient collections and the other the modern ones. In 1945 both met to shape the present collection, in addition to adding other donations and acquisitions that today complete the exhibitions located in the different spaces that the institution has, the main neoclassical style building designed by the architects Fernando Urrutia and Gonzalo Cá; orders and the subsequent expansions carried out by Álvaro Líbano, Ricardo Beascoa and Luis Uriarte, among others. Since the last inauguration in 2001, this museum is the most interesting in the city for learning about the History of Art.
The importance of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum lies in the large number of works of art which it has among its collections , the stature of the artists present and the extensive chronological path present in the permanent collection. It currently has some 10,000 pieces divided into paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings and applied arts that date from the beginning of the 13th century to the present time< /strong>. Of enormous interest are the works of famous painters such as Greco, Morales, Ribera, Murillo, Zurbarán, Paret, Goya, De Vos, Jordaens, Van Dyck, Cranach the Elder, /strong>Sofonisba Anguissola or Orazio Gentileschi, in addition to works of special interest such as the collection of oriental art, the collection of ceramics from Manises, the collection ;n by Basque artists or the collection of Etruscan, Roman and Iberian bronzes. Today, the Museum also has modern facilities with offices, reception, cafeteria, restaurant, bookstore, library, teaching department and auditorium.
Monday to Saturday: from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (closed Tuesday)
Sunday: from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
December 24 and 31 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (except on Tuesdays, the usual closing day)