The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum was initially founded in 1908 but, after numerous moves to various locations, the final building was inaugurated in 1945.

Later, given the size of the collection it would host, it was then expanded by the architects Alvaro Libano and Ricardo Beascoa. The works were completed in 1970 and only ten years later new spaces and services were added in the basement of the building.

The last renovations were carried out in 2001.

The permanent collection of the Museum, which on the whole includes more than ten thousand works including paintings, sculptures and works on paper, has increased considerably over the years thanks to acquisitions and important donations of works of art that span the period from the thirteenth century to the actuality. Particularly valuable is the section dedicated to the Spanish school with artists such as Il Greco, Morales, Ribera, Murillo, Zurbarán, Paret and Goya.

Other artists present in the collection are Lucas Cranach the Elder, Martin de Vos; Orazio Gentileschi; Mary Cassatt; Paul Gauguin, Joaquín Sorolla, Francis Bacon; Eduardo Chillida; Antoni Tàpies and Miquel Barceló;

Among the works on paper and prints, it is worth mentioning artists such as 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.