Not only does the Museum house the most important collection of works by Basque artists, but it is also the most important institution as far as the gathering of documents, research tradition and its close ties with the artists themselves are concerned. Not in vain was the Bilbao painter Manuel Losada one of the most enthusiastic promoters of the Museum and indeed its first Director. Another Bilbao painter, Aurelio Arteta, was the first Director of the Bilbao Museum of Modern Art. After a past lasting 100 years, both institutions were amalgamated together to make up the actual Museum with which all the most important Basque artists from Zuloaga to Chillida have had a special relationship from the very first moment it opened. Artists have contributed greatly to the consolidation and growth of the Museum not only by participating in its administration, but also by their generous donations of works of art.

The collection of the present Bilbao Fine Arts Museum originated with the merger of the collections from the first Museo de Bellas Artes, inaugurated in 1914, and the Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art) in 1924. Contributions from local institutions, from private individuals and the Museum's own acquisitions helped to shape the essential profile of the collection and oriented its subsequent growth.

Strolling through the different museum exhibition halls, visitors have the opportunity of seeing outstanding works by such artists as Bermejo, Benson, Mandijn, Vredeman de Vries, De Vos, Moro, Sánchez Coello, El Greco, Pourbus, Gentileschi, Ribera, Zurbarán, Van Dyck, Murillo, Arellano, Meléndez, Bellotto, Goya, Paret, Villaamil, Ribot, Zamacois, Madrazo, Gauguin, Cassatt, Sorolla, Guiard, Ensor, Regoyos, Romero de Torres, Zuloaga, Sunyer, Arteta, Gutiérrez Solana, Vázquez Díaz, Lipchitz, Delaunay, González, Gargallo, Bacon, Palazuelo, Oteiza, Chillida, Caro, Millares, Tàpies, Saura, Lüpertz, Kitaj, Blake, Arroyo, and Barceló, amongst others.