Explore Eugeen Van Mieghem’s Drawings and Pastels Exhibition at KMSKA Antwerp

This exhibition presents a comprehensive look at the early 20th-century works of Eugeen Van Mieghem, focusing on his spontaneous pastels and drawings. Visitors can explore his intimate visual diary of Antwerp, which captures everything from harbor life and social reality to the transformation of the city at the dawn of the modern era.

Eugeen Van Mieghem: City in Motion focuses on the artist's unique ability to record the frenetic energy of early 20th-century Antwerp. By utilizing the versatile medium of pastel, Van Mieghem captured the transient moments of a city undergoing rapid modernization, from electric lighting and automobiles to the explosive growth of its port. The exhibition highlights his role as a chronicler of his times, sketching the high and low of society—dockworkers, vagrants, and dancers alike—with a nervous, immediate intensity. Many of the works featured, including rare sketchbooks made from salvaged materials, are drawn from the Plantin-Moretus Museum’s collection and are being presented together in unprecedented numbers. Curated by Eric Rinckhout, the exhibition draws upon the Eugeen Van Mieghem Foundation’s endowment to showcase themes ranging from the human cost of the First World War to the daily struggles and joys of his contemporaries. Van Mieghem remained a committed observer, a critical outsider who maintained his realistic style despite the shifting artistic trends of his era. Through his highly personal visual archive, the exhibition offers a vibrant portrait of a city in constant motion, providing a look into both the artistic process of an artist who used the street as his studio and the evolving social fabric of Antwerp during a period of massive transition.

The exhibition is included in the regular museum admission ticket. Visitors are not required to book a separate time slot for this exhibition; general museum entry is sufficient for access.