Exposition des primitifs flamands à Bruges

[2] The exposition was highly influential, leading to at least five contemporary books as well as numerous scholarly articles, and initiated deeper study of the Flemish Primitives by a new generation of connoisseurs.

[5] The change in attribution of many important works (in table below) reflects progress in understanding the era by art historians since then, although it is an ongoing process.

The often erroneous attributions were those of the owners, but the position of the paintings in the exhibition generally reflected the opinion of the organizers, including Weale and Georges Hulin de Loo (a professor at the University of Ghent), regarding their authorship.

[8] The exhibition greatly improved the appreciation of Early Netherlandish art, which previously had been chiefly appreciated only by a few collectors and art historians, [2] but also led to shifts in the status of the artists: Hans Memling, who had been considered to be the major artist of the period, was surpassed by the likes of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden.

This has been attributed to the abundance of works by Memling at the exhibition, which made critics notice the lack of invention and overly serialized production he often showed, compared to the other masters.