Brussels 25.01.2024 In the context of BRAFA 2024, the Paul Delvaux Foundation has embraced the opportunity to take part in the Year of Surrealism and to bring into limelight the great master’s paintings. In a dedicated space, the Foundation will be offering an insight into the artist’s world through a selection of masterpieces from its own collection and from a private collection on loan to the Paul Delvaux Museum in St Idesbald.

The works on display at Fair, dating from the 1930s to the 1960s, reveal the themes concurrent to Paul Delvaux.

This year’s BRAFA will have Surrealist touch, since it will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the passing away of the Belgian painter Paul Delvaux (Belgium, 1897-1994).

The Paul Delvaux Foundation is the guest of honor at this year at Fair, illustrating his brilliant artistic career with around fifteen works in a dedicated space. Some thirty works highlighting the recurring themes close to the artist – women, stations, trains, antique decors and the
presence of death – will also be on display on several exhibitors’ stands.

Although he was not an official member of the Surrealists, he largely shared the group’s interest in researching the depths of the human mind. Like his contemporaries Giorgio de Chirico and René Magritte, Delvaux used bizarre subject matter preferring them to the abstractions as a means of expressiveness. With his unique in elegance language of dreamy images he created scenes that were designed to emotionally shock the viewer.

As an architect by education Delvaux’s is a master of construction of the puzzling scenes, creating a paradox for the viewer. Being semantically highly realistic they paintings present the flight to imaginary between reality and a daydreaming. However each of them has elements aimed to contradict, surprise, and shock the views, with the purpose to evoke thinking about the hidden levels of life, inviting for a mysterious walk into unconscious.

The BRAFA Fair this year is overwhelming by its theatrical installations, facilitating dialog between Delvaux as a master of surreal, and the real world.

The interaction is created on contrary to his paining moods where communications between protagonists in non-existent. A mysterious half-naked women turning her head away in denial of death, depicted as a skeleton watching the moon, or couple of lovers, resembling Adam and Eve who are totally involved with each other, neglecting the world around, – all of them expose the fractured world, unwilling to link together. The moonlight, and an absolute absence of movement of air are adding to effect of sleepwalking though his painting.

However it is a philosophical reflection upon human life, which inevitably occurs from contemplating of Delvaux masterpieces, ensuring his everlasting fame.

BRAFA is one of the most prestigious art fairs in Europe, and an exceptional event in which rare and exquisite art works  from various epochs covering the periods from antiquity to the contemporary masterpieces are on show.  Since 1956, the year of its creation, its taste for excellence has contributed to its constant evolution of the Fair.  Over time, it has grown,  and changed venues several times. This year in Brussels Expo Halls 3 and 4.

BRAFA 2024 features 132 leading galleries with a broad amplitude of profiles,
presenting masterpieces in a corresponding setting, mostly historic, or designed to create a context to enhance the beauty of the objects or paintings. The event will take place from Sunday January 28th to Sunday February 4th in Brussels EXPO.