Brussels 23.01.2024 The Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts Fair – BRAFA – 2024 offers to art lovers an exquisite collection of masterpieces from 132 galleries. After a very well-received 68th edition in January, BRAFA is now preparing its 69th edition with passion and expertise. The Fair will take place from Sunday, January 28th to Sunday, February 4th, 2024 at Brussels Expo in Halls 3/4.

The world-wide famous fair enjoys the status of the highest-quality event, loved and appreciated by the collectors, art lovers, and educators. Its taste for excellence is evident in the selection of the collections of the paintings and objects. This year the Fair is welcoming 132 galleries from 14 countries, offering as usual a range of art gems of various epochs from Antiquity to contemporary masters.

Each year, new applications are carefully examined and two entire days are devoted to expert appraisals prior to the opening of the Fair. More than 80 international experts carry out meticulous checks on the authenticity, quality and state of conservation of the works to ensure collectors purchase in complete confidence.

“The art market nowadays is so bountiful that it can be hard to find your way around. What sets BRAFA apart from other fairs is its seriousness, with a particular focus on quality. We’ve taken yet another step in this direction for the next edition” said Francis Maere, the Vice-Chairman of BRAFA’s Modern and Contemporary Art Section.

This year 18 new exhibitors will be taking part, completing the range of fields on display at BRAFA. In Antique Art, the Spanish Nicolás Cortés Gallery will be exhibiting European paintings and sculptures from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century, including works by Zurbaran, Goya, Ribera and Murillo. Ralph Gierhards Antiques / Fine Art, a German specialist in European art from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, will be presenting gilt bronze objects, sculptures, furniture, Old Master paintings, Impressionist paintings and Art Deco objects. T

he Heutink Ikonen gallery, based in the Netherlands, will be displaying a selection of icons from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries from the Balkans, Russia, Greece, Egypt and Ethiopia. The German gallery Kunsthaus Kende will be offering antique and modern silverware, as well as contemporary creations. Two Italian galleries specialising in the Haute Epoque, Mearini Fine Art and Romigioli Antichità, will be joining the list of 2024 exhibitors. For its part, the French gallery Marc Maison will be presenting nineteenth-century architecture, furniture and objects relating to the World’s Fairs of 1851-1900. For the first time, BRAFA will also be welcoming Secher Fine Art & Design, a Danish gallery specialising in modern art (COBRA movement).

In contemporary art, the French gallery Christophe Gaillard, which has just moved to Brussels, will be presenting works by contemporary artists as well as those active in the 60s and 90s. Finally, 2024 will see the return of two Parisian galleries: Galerie Kevorkian, which specialises in Ancient Oriental archaeology, Islamic and Indian art, and Galerie Flak, which specialises in classical art from Africa, Oceania and North America. Last but not least, the Belgian gallery Sofie Van de Velde will once again have a stand at the Fair at the next edition, offering a bold confrontation between modern and contemporary artists.

Spotlight on the Paul Delvaux Foundation:

The Paul Delvaux Foundation will be the guest of honour at BRAFA 2024. For the occasion, it will be presenting an exhibition in a dedicated space, retracing the major stages in the creation of this Belgian artist associated with Surrealism.

“2024 will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Surrealism. André Breton published his first manifesto in 1924. The international press and foreign observers often describe Belgium as Surrealist, a term that fits perfectly with our often offbeat way of doing things. In this context, the Paul Delvaux Foundation wanted to pay tribute to this great Belgian painter to mark the 30th anniversary of his death” explained BRAFA Chairman Harold t’Kint de Roodenbeke.

Paul Delvaux (1897-1994), Le Canapé vert, 1944 – photo Vincent Everarts © Foundation Paul Delvaux, Belgium, SABAM 2023
Camille Brasseur, the Director of the Paul Delvaux Foundation, comments: “The Foundation has seized the opportunity presented by BRAFA 2024 to take part in the Year of Surrealism and shine a spotlight on the work of the great master. BRAFA is a key event for promoting contact with the general public and collectors alike.”

The Paul Delvaux Foundation will take visitors on a journey into the highly personal world of the artist, whose works, like waking dreams, feature mysterious figures, with women playing a central role, as well as the more unexpected figures of skeletons in ancient architectural settings or railway stations, which particularly fascinated the artist. The ROCAD (Royal Chamber of Art dealers in Belgium) will be exhibiting works on paper by the same artist.

Camille Brasseur, the Director of the Delvaux Foundation, will also be giving a talk devoted to the Belgian painter on Tuesday, January 30th, 2024 as part of the BRAFA Art Talks, which will take place daily at 4pm at the stand of the King Baudouin Foundation.