Brussels 27.01.2023 The Brussels Antique Art Fair (BRAFA) welcomes collectors and art lovers from January 29th to February 5th, 2023, at Brussels Expo in Art Nouveau style setting The theme has been chosen as a sign of appreciating of Volume Architecture association, celebrating this year 20 years of collaboration with the BRAFA.

The Fair is renowned for an impressive amplitude of styles and epochs it presents to collectors and art lovers, which come from faraway for the encounter with the masterpieces.
This year without failure the Fair offers more than 10,000 artworks dating from Antiquity to the present day. The success reflected in attracting thirteen new galleries joining the regular exhibitors at the Fair.

All 130 participating galleries have been preparing to display their most exquisite objects, presented in each stand in a thoughtfully created context, constructing a mise-en-scene, allowing to appreciate the masterpieces in the frame of their origins from an impressive variety of cultures, and civilisations.

However among this exceptional display of masterpieces, there are some outstanding jewels which attract the attention of private collectors, and museum curators.

One of the most striking artworks of the Fair is the XVII-th century painting by Jacob Jordaens entitled “Study of an Evangelist.” The art lovers can admire the artist’s masterpiece, which is comparable to a sketching on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, on the Klaas Muller (BE) stand 4. Jacob Jordaens, together with Pieter Paul Rubens and Antoon van Dyck is one of the three genius masters  of XVII-th century Flemish painting.  Jordaens, who was significantly influenced by Rubens,  developed his own characteristic style:   monumental and expressive.

In Desmet Gallery (BE) reknown for classic sculpture (stand 31), will be exhibiting an impressive bust by Luigi Valadier. Belonging to a dynasty of goldsmiths, he became highly appreciated by influential and wealthy  families and individuals in Rome, while his clients included Pope Pius VI, as well as Archduke Ferdinand of Austria.  In classical sculpture,

Desmet Gallery: Luigi Valadier (1726 – 1785), Emperor Caracalla, Rome, last quarter 18th century. Bronze, dark greenish patina on a Giallo di Siena base, Hight 68 cm.

Amongst the tribal objects on display, the visitors will  discover a remarkable statuette of Dalton Somaré , Italy,  stand 7.  The Milanese gallery will be presenting a perfectly geometrical sculpture. This is an early and classic example of a Kota guardian figure, which distinguishes itself from the corpus of Obamba reliquaries by the precision of its manufacture. The face is a sharp ellipse cut across by two broad bands of brass, which give the figure a severe and dreamy expression. The experts regard this sculpture as one of the most expressive and purest examples within.

Simon Studer Art SA from Geneva, Switzerland, stand 57, is specialised in Impressionist, modern and contemporary art is presenting a watercolour on paper signed by Joan Miró. Dated May 2nd, 1942, it belongs to the artist’s last period of production in Palma de Mallorca, before he returned to his native Barcelona.

Samuel Vanhoegaerden Gallery from Belgium, stand 110, presents one of the major figures of the CoBrA movement, Pierre Alechinsky.  Approximately 30 works will be on display, dating from the 1960s to the present day. The centrepiece of the exposition, and one of the artist’s most important works, is “L’or du rien,” which was first presented at the XXXVI-th Venice Biennale in 1972. It is the first time in 25 years that a panorama of this size and importance has been presented in a gallery.

Contemporary art, the Nosbaum Reding Gallery, Luxembourg-Belgium, stand 16, displays a monumental work by Damien Roubaix inspired by Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica, which denounces the atrocities of war. In 1955, a first re-interpretation of the work was created: a tapestry woven by Jacqueline de la Baume-Dürrbach, which was acquired by the Rockefellers and is currently on display at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Two other versions followed: the 1976 version, acquired by the Musée Unterlinden in Colmar, and the 1985 version, acquired by the Musée d’Art Moderne in Gunma.  Deroubaix discovered the tapestry preserved in Colmar as a teenager. This piece would remain one of his sources of artistic inspiration and imprint a large part of his work.

From Saturday 28 January to Sunday 5 February 2023, daily at 4pm except on Monday 30 January. Free entry once inside the fair. Curators, experts, journalists and other well-known figures of the Belgian and international art world give inspiring lectures on various subjects related to art.

Online programme: https://www.brafa.art/en/art-talks