If you’ve ever wondered what secrets lie beneath some of the world’s most enduring paintings, visit Brussels’ Musée Fin-de-Siècle Museum, part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Until Jan. 25, 2015, the exhibition Kokoschka & Gauguin Unraveled: See the Invisible uses multispectral image analysis to explore two masterpieces: Paul Gauguin’s Portrait of Suzanne Bambridge and Oskar Kokoschka’s Trance Player. Conservators and researchers apply techniques such as X‑ray radiography and infrared reflectography to study paint layers and compositional changes, revealing underdrawings and earlier versions hidden beneath the visible surface.
The museum’s permanent collection focuses on cultural production between 1868—marked by the founding of the Société Libre des Beaux-Arts—and the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Its holdings illustrate the rich interplay of painting, literature, opera, music, architecture, photography and poetry from that transformative period. Visitors gain historical context for late 19th- and early 20th-century creativity and can follow artistic developments that shaped modern aesthetics.
In addition to paintings and works on paper, the museum offers an engaging multimedia installation that reconstructs six landmark Art Nouveau buildings in 3D. The presentation provides interior and exterior views of architect Victor Horta’s Maison du Peuple and Hôtel Aubecq, Henry Van de Velde’s Bloemenwerf House, Paul Hankar’s Ciamberlani House, Fernand Khnopff’s residence, and the former Old England department store by Paul Saintenoy. These reconstructions let visitors appreciate architectural detail, spatial relationships and decorative programs that defined the Art Nouveau movement.
Whether you are drawn to technical analysis of paintings or to immersive architectural reconstructions, the Musée Fin-de-Siècle Museum offers both rigorous research and accessible experiences. The exhibition highlighting Kokoschka and Gauguin demonstrates how modern imaging methods can change our understanding of familiar works, uncovering artists’ processes, revisions and hidden narratives. The museum’s broader collection situates those discoveries within a vibrant cultural moment, making it a compelling destination for anyone interested in the intersections of art, history and technology.