The Foyer is the heart of the gallery. It connects the historic reception rooms and introduces the gallery’s approach to contemporary craftsmanship. Visitors arrive, gather, disperse and meet again here. Open and restrained, the space offers a first look at the building and a point of return throughout the visit.

The Foyer also sets the premise for the whole floor: how might Pieter Smidt van Gelder, Antwerp collector and patron, live in these rooms today? Drawing on historic photographs and plans, each adjoining room evokes a different part of daily life, from gathering and conversation to reading and retreat. Works by different artists are brought together through material, form and contrast, within restored architecture that gives these relationships their context. Together, the rooms show how objects become part of a life, taking on meaning through their surroundings and through one another.