Over the years, the KMSKA has been led by many different chief curators, each of whom helped define the museum and its collection. An overview:
- Willem Jacob Herreyns (1743-1827)
- Mattheus Ignatius van Bree (1773-1839)
- Gustave Wappers (1803-1874)
- Jean Antoine Verschaeren (1803-1863)
- Nicaise De Keyser (1813-1887)
- Jozef Geefs (1808-1885)
- Charles Verlat (1824-1890)
- Albert De Vriendt (1843-1900)
- Ferdinand de Braekeleer (1792-1883)
- Pierre Koch (1843-1904)
- Pol De Mont (1857-1931)
- Paul Buschmann (1877-1924)
- Arthur Henry Cornette (1880-1945)
- Ary J.J.Delen (1883-1960)
- Walther Vanbeselaere (1908-1988)
- Gilberte Gepts (1917-1981)
- Leo Wuyts (1931)
- Lydia M.A. Schoonbaert (1930)
- Erik Vandamme (1948)
- Paul Huvenne (1949)
