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The collector and his experts

Collecting art is not a one-man job; Fritz Mayer van den Bergh had a large network of dealers, collectors and art historians who helped him put together his collection and learn more about works of art.

Mail from all over Europe

Although Fritz Mayer van den Bergh was primarily interested in Flemish and Dutch art, he and his mother Henriette were in contact with art experts all over Western Europe. As a result, their letters also ended up in museums and archives outside of Flanders.

The search for Bruegel

Over the course of his life, Fritz Mayer van den Bergh collected no fewer than seven paintings and thirty engravings from the Bruegel family. As a result, he played an important role in the revaluation of these artists at the end of the 19th century. How did he come across these works? What did he want or not want in his collection?

Stories from the Archives

In addition to a valuable art collection, the Museum Mayer van den Bergh houses an extensive historical archive. The core of this was bequeathed by Henriette Mayer van den Bergh, the museum's founder. The archive contains a wealth of information about the works of art in the collection, the foundation of the museum, and the eventful lives of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh, his mother Henriette, and the family. In this web dossier, we recount some of these stories.