From Delvaux's 'Breakfast' to Beetle Collages, Belgium's BRAFA Fair Was Laden With Highlights
- Art Listings
- News
- Archive
- From Delvaux's 'Breakfast' to Beetle Collages, Belgium's BRAFA Fair Was Laden With Highlights
The Brussels Antiques and Fine Art Fair (BRAFA) is known for an eclectic range of exhibitors, who bring paintings, sculptures, and decorative objects spanning several centuries and several continents.
The fair wrapped up last weekend with a record attendance of 46,000 and tales of strong sales and a friendly atmosphere. "What makes the difference here is the family aspect, with dealers aided by their children, who like to answer questions from the public, and who know each other well," Beatrix Bourdon, BRAFA director, told us.
Bourdon also said that BRAFA has received more and more applications from contemporary art galleries, but that the fair would continue to emphasize antiques and older artworks. This year, "we saw a lot of interest in silver and in 18th-century furniture," she added. The clientele was younger than might be expected. "During the two VIP openings, I was surprised to see so many young people, age 30 or so," Bourdon observed. "If they were there, it was because they had already purchased something at a previous edition of the fair."
Many dealers reported sales of smaller, less expensive objects — a sign of continuing financial uncertainty — though some big-ticket items were also purchased. London's Aktis Gallery sold five drawings by Jules Pascin, an early-20th-century Parisian artist originally from Bulgaria, for prices between €10-40,000 ($13-52,000) to Belgian, French, and Russian buyers. Dealer Iana Kobeleva said that "it was important for us to show him, because Pascin was more important during his lifetime than all his friends whose work sells for millions at auction today."
Newcomers Futur Antérieur (Brussels), Victor Gastou (Paris), and Oscar Graf (Paris) brought 20th-century decorative art objects to the fair, and this period seemed to be very popular with visitors. Victor Gastou displayed neoclassical pieces by André Arbus alongside the 1970s creations of Paul Evans and Belgian designer Ado Chale, who is very popular with Belgian collectors. Parisian gallery Steinitz, which specializes in antique wood paneling and décor, set up elaborate scenes which gave their booth the aura of a museum. An immense rosewood and glass cabinet by Edouard Lièvre, with a very modern appearance for its 1880 execution date, was offered for €500,000 ($656,000) but did not find a buyer.
Steinitz also displayed Louis XV natural wood panels which, unlike most panels of the period, were not painted. The panels were priced around €1 million ($1.3 million). Although several visitors expressed interest, they did not sell during the fair. A series of Japanese silk panels representing the family of the last Shogun was another rare find that did not find a buyer, though the gallery did sell several furniture pieces and other decorative objects.
Harold t'Kint de Roodenbeke said that he sold 80 percent of the contents of his booth, including "Breakfast," a painting by Paul Delvaux, which sold for €150,000 ($197,000), and sketches and preparatory studies by the artist that went for €6-10,000 ($7,900-13,000) apiece. The sketches came from the collection of Delvaux's doctor, which Roodenbeke purchased recently. The gallerist set up his booth with a "body portrait" theme, featuring artworks by Sam Francis and Marcel Marien. Going back along the art historical timeline, De Backker Gallery sold a medieval nativity scene on wood panel for a price between €300-400,000 ($393,000-525,000) as well as a painted bust of a Madonna for about €150,000 ($200,000).
African art dealer Patric Didier Claes (whom we interviewed before the fair began) sold his flagship piece, a Nigerian Ekoi monolithic statue, for an undisclosed sum to a Belgian collector. Claes has a special affinity for the piece: "I kept it at home for three years before selling it." He said that he sold several smaller pieces as well, such as miniature ritual masks from the early 20th century for €2,500 ($3,300) each. On the last day of the fair, he had only two or three pieces left in his booth.
Photo Grégory Picard, courtesy Ronny van de Velde
More news
 |
With this landmark score, the tiny, oil-rich nation joins a massively exclusive club: only five Card Players exist, and the other four are in world-class collections such as the Musée d’Orsay and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
04 February '12
www.vanityfair.com
|
 |
Artist Mike Kelley, described by colleagues as an "irresistible force" in contemporary art, has died, police said Wednesday. He was 57.
02 February '12
www.artdaily.org
|
 |
When Ai Weiwei was arrested by the Chinese government in April of 2011, the first question asked was — what will happen to his Twitter account?
01 February '12
artinfo.com
|
 |
SOTHEBY’S have posted $4.9bn in worldwide sales for 2011, marginally up on 2010.
01 February '12
www.antiquestradegazette.com
|
 |
The online VIP Art Fair is returning for its second cyber outing. The fair, whose initials stand for “viewing in private,” invites visitors to browse the virtual booths of about 130 exhibitors from 36 countries, Feb. 3 through Feb. 8.
01 February '12
www.bloomberg.com
|
 |
Christie’s International (CHRS) said there was a surge in demand for contemporary art as an investment, after its sales climbed 9 percent in 2011.
01 February '12
www.bloomberg.com
|
 |
A copy of the Mona Lisa has been discovered in the Prado which was painted in Leonardo’s studio—created side by side with the original that now hangs in the Louvre. This sensational find will transform our understanding of the world’s most famous picture.
01 February '12
theartnewspaper.com
|
 |
Pablo Picasso is the artist who has more works stolen than anyone else. The Spanish master has 1,147 paintings registered as nicked, missing or disputed – twice as many as the next on the Art Loss Register.
30 January '12
www.mirror.co.uk
|
 |
The No. 1 question from visitors to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, according to Emilie Gordenker, is “Where is ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’?”
30 January '12
www.nytimes.com
|
 |
Seven artists from around the world have been shortlisted for the UK's largest visual arts prize.
29 January '12
www.bbc.co.uk
|
 |
The Winter Antiques Show finished its first week with strong sales and interest among buyers, including established collectors, design professionals and first-time buyers.
29 January '12
www.artdaily.org
|
 |
A beautiful watercolour of Kirkby Lonsdale Churchyard by Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (1775-1851), that had not been seen at auction since 1884, sold yesterday (Wednesday 25th January 2012) for £217,250 as part of the 19th Century Paintings sale at Bonhams, 101 New Bond Street, London. The sale total was £1,871,925.
29 January '12
www.artdaily.org
|
 |
In a remarkable coincidence, the ‘naturally divine’ Cumbrian view depicted in one of Turner’s paintings is up for sale at the same time as the masterpiece itself.
26 January '12
www.telegraph.co.uk
|
 |
The developer of an ambitious cultural district in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday outlined a new timetable for the stalled project, with its first attraction — a branch of the Louvre — now slated to open in 2015.
26 January '12
www.artdaily.org
|
 |
London Art Fair today reports a record attendance for the 24th edition of the UK’s largest and longest running fair for contemporary and Modern British art.
26 January '12
www.artdaily.org
|
 |
A Frans Hals formerly owned by Elizabeth Taylor fetched $2.1 million at Christie’s Old Masters sale in New York.
26 January '12
www.bloomberg.com
|
 |
Can Leonardo da Vinci's star power translate to the big screen?
25 January '12
www.artinfo.com
|
 |
VIP2.0, the second outing of the online-only VIP Art Fair, will open to the public on February 3 at 8 a.m. on the dot.
25 January '12
www.artinfo.com
|
