It is constituted around the personal collection of art and antiquities owned by the industrialist Raoul Warocqué (1870–1917), which were bequeathed to the Belgian state on his death.

In 2012, the museum was expanded by a bequest of Pre-Columbian art from the collection of Yves and Yolande Boël.

Artefacts from archaeological excavations in the Province of Hainaut are also displayed.

The original Château Warocqué, in which the museum was housed, was destroyed by fire in 1960.

The current museum is housed in a building designed by the architect Roger Bastin, which was opened in 1975.