The story
The Phoebus Foundation is less a single museum you walk into than a very large private collection with a mission. It grew out of the holdings of the Antwerp businessman Fernand Huts and his logistics company Katoen Natie, and it was set up in 2011 to keep Flemish art and heritage together in Flanders rather than let it scatter abroad.
Its range is unusually wide, from Flemish old masters and expressionists to antique textiles, old atlases, Cobra painting and even a dinosaur skeleton. The foundation buys steadily, restores what it acquires in its own conservation studios, and shows the work through travelling exhibitions and a few spaces in Antwerp, some open to all and some by appointment.
A permanent display of ancient textiles and a depot of Cobra art in the city are among the places where the collection can be seen.
