[3] It houses a valuable and quite comprehensive collection of Basque, Spanish and European art from the Middle Ages to contemporary, including paintings by old masters like El Greco, Cranach, Sofonisba Anguissola, Murillo, Goya, Luis Paret, Van Dyck, Ruisdael and Bellotto, together with 19th century and modern: Gustave Doré, Sorolla, Mary Cassatt, Paul Gauguin, Henri Le Sidaner, James Ensor, Jacques Lipchitz, Peter Blake, Francis Bacon and Richard Serra.

During more than 100 years of history, the collaboration between civil society, local artists and public institutions has enabled the museum to gather an extensive collection, considered one of the most important and diverse of all Spain.

Its creation is unique taking into account the importance of bequests and donations from diverse patrons and benefactors, as well as the continuous effort of the museum itself to expand through major acquisitions.

Since its inception, the interest in establishing a representative artistic compendium has allowed to refine the selection criteria, and, as a result, the museum can offer and present a panoramic lengthy art history to its visitors.

The Bilbao painter Manuel Losada is also considered one of the main promoters of the museum, and he became the director of the first office in the School of Arts and Crafts Village, located in the building of the former Civil Hospital in Achuri.

Apart from the relevant list of national and international artists who participated in it, there was also a strong commitment from the organizers with contemporary art, shown with the acquisition by the Council of a significant set of pieces such as the work of Cassatt, Gauguin, Sidaner, Cottet, Serusier, and Spanish Anglada Camarasa, Nonell and Canals among others, and eventually entering the museum collection.

The building, designed by the young architect Fernando Urrutia and Gonzalo Cárdenas, and probably inspired by the great historical museums including the Prado with neoclassic forms, combining stone and red brick.

[4] With the aim of adding a new wing to the neoclassical building, the architects Alvaro Lebanon and Ricardo de Beascoa Jauregui reformed the museum with minimalist lines and modern materials such as metal and glass.

The governing body is the Board, in which representatives of the institutions are integrated with other natural or legal persons who, for their input or knowledge of the museum activity, promote the achievement of foundational purposes.

In 2019, architecture firms Foster + Partners and LM Urirate were selected over six other teams to design the future expansion and remodeling of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum.

It is worth mentioning the variety of works on paper, prints and engravings by Albrecht Dürer, Van Meckenem, Georg Pencz, Goltzius, Rembrandt, Sandrart, Piranesi, Goya, Fortuny, Carlos de Haes, Cézanne, Picasso, Duchamp, Lipchitz, Utamaro, Hokusai, Rouault, Hockney, Allen Jones, Immendorff, Bacon and Antonio Saura, among others.

An indispensable tour of the museum includes rare works by Bermejo, Benson, Mandijn, Vredeman de Vries, Lucas Cranach the Elder, De Vos, Anthonis Mor, Alonso Sánchez Coello, Sofonisba Anguissola, El Greco, Pourbus, Gentileschi, Ribera, Zurbarán, Van Dyck, Murillo, Arellano, Meléndez, Bellotto, Mengs, Goya, Paret, Villaamil, Gustave Doré, Ribot, Zamacois, Madrazo, Gauguin, Cassatt, Sorolla, Iturrino, Ensor, Regoyos, Romero de Torres, Zuloaga, Sunyer, Gutiérrez Solana, Daniel Vázquez Díaz, Lipchitz, Delaunay, González, Gargallo, Bacon, Palazuelo, Oteiza, Appel, Chillida, Caro, Serra, Millares, Tàpies, Saura, Lüpertz, Kitaj, Blake, Arroyo and Barceló, among others.