BRAFA 2024 was another success with record attendance. Nearly 67,000 art lovers of all ages flocked to Brussels Expo over the course of 8 days to discover the 132 galleries on show. As the first fair of the artistic year, BRAFA was unanimously acclaimed by its visitors for both the quality of the objects on display and the magic of the Surrealist décor that characterised the Fair.
words Emanuela Zini
Numerous sales at the 69th edition
Dei Bardi Art (Brussels), a gallery specialising in sculptures and objects from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, sold a small medieval stained-glass window depicting a gryllos, dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, to the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
In the field of antique paintings, Galerie Florence de Voldère (Paris) sold Une Kermesse by Martin van Cleve (Antwerp, 1527-1581), known for his depictions of scenes of daily life in the Flemish countryside, for approximately 150,000 euros.
Floris van Wanroij Fine Art (Dommelen) sold a large painting dating from 1673, depicting a church interior with figures, by the Dutch Golden Age painter Jan Griffier (Amsterdam 1652-1718 London).
Art et Patrimoine – Laurence Lenne (Ath) sold a porcelain tableau of a harbour view, a masterpiece from the Tournai factory, signed JJ Mayer and dated January 1st, 1787, to the King Baudouin Foundation. Soon to be deposited at the Musée Royal de Mariemont, this work will be the subject of a study and a publication.
Galerie Bernard De Leye (Brussels), which exhibited a fine collection of fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth-century Spanish liturgical silverware, sold several silver, vermeil and gilt bronze chalices from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The gallery also sold a gilt silver head of Saint Januarius, known as ‘San Gennaro’, Naples, eighteenth century.
For its part, d’Arschot & Cie (Brussels) made over twenty sales, including an engraved and chased silver coffee pot, Namur, 1737, bearing the hallmark of the silversmith Nicolas Wodon (Namur, 1710-1785) and an engraved and partially gilded silver covered goblet, Nuremberg, 1630, attributed to Marx Burmeister (Nuremberg, 1631-1657).
For its first participation at BRAFA, Zebregs&Röell Fine Art and Antiques (Amsterdam-Maastricht) proposed a stand worthy of the finest cabinets of curiosities. The gallery sold a number of works, including a group of four Meissen porcelain sculptures, each representing a continent, Allegories of Europe, Asia, America and Africa, commissioned in 1745 by the Russian Empress Elisabeth Petrovna and dating from the second half of the nineteenth century.
Artimo Fine Art (Brussels) met with great success in the nineteenth-early twentieth century sculpture category. Saltimbanca in Carrara marble by Enrico Astorri (San Lazzaro Alberoni 1859-1921 Milan), circa 1900, announced at 145,000 euros, was acquired by a collector.
Galerie Cento Anni (Brussels), specialising in Art Nouveau and Art Deco objects and sculptures, sold a marble sculpture by Philippe Wolfers, entitled Automne ou vendanges, dating from 1913 (only two examples), exhibited at the Brussels Salon in 1914.
Galerie Nicolas Bourriaud (Paris) sold an highlight Femme assise les mains dans le dos, by Robert Couturier (France, 1905-2008), cast in bronze around 1991. Only three examples were cast during the artist’s lifetime.
Montagut Gallery (Barcelona), which specialises in tribal art, sold an eighteenth-century wooden sculpture by the Jörai people of the Highlands of Tay Nguyen, Vietnam.
Claes Gallery (Brussels) found a buyer for a Yaure mask, Côte d’Ivoire, late nineteenth-early twentieth century. The mask, which sold for approximately 150,000 euros, was exhibited on a 1946 “suspended” bookcase made of wood, folded sheet steel and aluminium by Jean Prouvé (Paris 1901-1984 Nancy), which was also bought by a collector for approximately 500,000 euros.
Galerie Flak (Paris) found buyers for a large part of the works in its thematic exhibition of “kachina” dolls (Hopi culture, Arizona) dating from 1880 to 1930, with prices ranging from 5,000 to over 50,000 euros for each of these sculptures.
In the field of twentieth-century paintings, Segoura Fine Art (Saint-Ouen sur Seine), a first-time BRAFA exhibitor, sold a symbolist work by Georges Jules Victor Clairin (Paris 1843-1918 Clohars-Carnoët), L’Epave, 1904. Galerie de la Présidence (Paris) sold a work entitled Les Toits Rouges, circa 1910-1912, by the Fauvist artist Maurice de Vlaminck (Paris 1876-1958 Rueil-la-Gadelière) for approximately €200,000, as well as a number of works by the Dutch painter Geer van Velde (Lisse 1898-1977 Cachan), whose artistic trajectory oscillated between figuration and abstraction.
Van Herck-Eykelberg (Antwerp), a new exhibitor at BRAFA, sold among others a painting by James Ensor (Ostend, 1860-1949), Rose, Tanagras and Boot, dating from 1917, as well as four works by Léon Spilliaert (Ostend, 1881-1946).
Galerie Ary Jan (Paris) found from the very beginning a buyer for a family scene by Anto Carte (Mons 1886-1954 Brussels), Le Bénédicité, 1922, as well as for several pieces by the French sculptor and goldsmith of Georgian origin Goudji (Bordjomi, 1941).
Galerie Taménaga (Paris) sold two works by Marie Laurencin (Paris, 1883-1956), including the very elegant Jeunes filles aux jeux, 1938. The gallery also exhibited works by contemporary Japanese artists such as Takehiko Sugawara (Tokyo, 1962) and Kyosuke Tchinai (Ehimé, 1948), whose Lys dans la lumière de la nuit, 2023, was sold at this 69th edition.
Galerie des Modernes (Paris) found a buyer for its beautiful watercolour and ink on paper Les deux Amies by Paul Delvaux (Wanze 1897-1994 Furnes), painted in 1972.
Galerie Sofie Van de Velde (Antwerp), which presented a dialogue between contemporary and modern art, sold a work by Jean Brusselmans (Brussels 1884-1953 Dilbeek), Les Roses, 1948, and one by Constant Permeke (Antwerp 1886-1952 Ostend), De graanoogst, 1948. QG Gallery (Knokke) sold a work on paper by Pablo Picasso (Malaga 1881-1973 Mougins), entitled Bacchanale, 1955, and a monumental work by Gilbert & George (respectively Bolzano, 1943 and Plymouth, 1943) from 1983, entitled Belief, each purchased for approximately 250,000 euros.
Axel Vervoordt (Wijnegem) sold a work by Pierre Alechinsky (Brussels, 1927), entitled Mémento, 1972, and a partially glazed earthenware piece by Pierre Culot (Malmedy 1938-2011 Roux-Miroir), Vase, circa 1990.
Repetto Gallery (Lugano) made several sales, including a wonderful work by Christo (Gabrovo 1935-2020 New York) representing the project for Les Champs Elysées in 1969, and an urban landscape by Salvo (Leonforte 1947-2015 Turin) entitled Intra, 2002.
Samuel Vanhoegaerden Gallery (Knokke), which presented a solo show by the Pop Art icon Tom Wesselmann (Ohio 1931-2004 New York), sold several works including Monica with Lichtenstein (Floral Wallpaper), 1988-1990, for €450,000.
Cortesi Gallery (Lugano-Milan) sold a work on paper by the minimalist artist Robert Mangold (1937, New York), entitled Column Structure XII, 2006, for approximately €45,000.
De Zutter Art Gallery (Knokke), which specialises in post-war and contemporary art, sold a glass sculpture by Tony Cragg (Liverpool, 1949) entitled 8+4, 2020, for €70,000.
Rodolphe Janssen (Brussels) sold a work by the animal portraitist Sean Landers (Massachusetts, 1962) entitled Rabbit, 2023, for over 90,000 euros, and several woodcuts by the Romanian twin brothers Gert & Uwe Tobias (Braşov, 1973) fetched 44,000 euros each.
In terms of design, Robertaebasta (Milan-London) exhibited a coffee table with a profiled chrome-plated steel base, cylindrical Plexiglas supports and four fossil wood shelves at staggered heights, circa 1970.
Maison Rapin (Paris)sold two large mirrors created by the Italian duo Foddis (respectively Milan, 1975 and 1976), one for 32,000 euros and the other for 22,000 euros and a large chandelier by Robert Goossens (Paris, 1927-2016) for 140,000 euros.
Dr. Lennart Booij Fine Art & Rare Items (Amsterdam) sold a wooden chair by the designer Verner Panton (Gentofte 1926-1998 Copenhagen) to the Design Museum Gent. This prototype, designed in 1956, is based on the famous zigzag chair by Gerrit Rietveld (Utrecht, 1888-1964).
In the decorative arts, Marc Heiremans (Antwerp) sold an exceptionally large 95cm vase ‘Leerdam Unica’, designed by the glass designer Floris Meydam (Leerdam, 1919-2011) and coded 1960. It sold for 9,500 euros.
In jewellery, Gioielleria Nardi (Venice) made several sales, including the Geisha brooch/pendant in gold, enamel, engraved turquoise, diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Its central section represents a fan which can be opened thanks to micro-mechanisms to reveal a branch beneath, symbolising a flowering cherry tree.
Epoque Fine Jewels (Kortrijk)sold an Art Nouveau brooch by Georges Fouquet (Paris, 1862-1957) and an Art Deco onyx and diamond brooch by Cartier, circa 1920.
A new life for BRAFA’s Surrealist décor!
Visitors to the 69th edition of BRAFA were able to discover a décor made up of elements inspired by the works of Paul Delvaux, whose Foundation was in the spotlight this year. This ephemeral décor will be recycled or reused. BRAFA has been approached by a real estate professional to resell some of these elements. The funds will be used to benefit an international classical and contemporary dance school that is the pride of our country, the Mosa Ballet School in Liège. This generous contribution will enable a young student to benefit from high-level training that he or she would not otherwise have been able to access.
