×

Subscribe to our newsletter

Highlights From the Previous Week, Partnered Events and Haikus. View our Newsletter archive

BRAFA 2024

Jan 26, 2024

From Sunday, January 28th to Sunday, February 4th, 2024, the 69th edition of BRAFA will take place at the Brussels Expo. Featuring 132 galleries from over 14 countries, the 2024 edition of the leading art fair is planning to be one of its best yet.

Scroll right to read more ›
Text by TLmag

BRAFA opens its doors on Sunday, January 28th at the Brussels Expo, with 132 galleries exhibiting works from ancient antiquity to contemporary art and design. Since its debut in 1956, this eclectic and exciting art fair has marked the opening of the art fair season with its comprehensive vision and professional approach. With specialists across disciplines, including classical archaeology, antique, modern and contemporary paintings, furniture, sculptures, objets d’art from the Haute Epoque to the twenty-first century, textiles, books and more, the fair is a feast for the eyes.

For its 2023 edition, BRAFA welcomed 65,000 people, a record for the fair and a significant marker that the fair is continuing ahead with a positive and forward thinking approach. While the fair retains its stature as a leading antiques fair, there is an increased attention to cultivating a more diverse range of specialties to broaden the market and appeal to more contemporary tastes. As Didier Claes, the Vice-Chairman of BRAFA notes in a recent interview: “We can’t avoid taking the changing tastes of collectors and the market into account. If we’d stuck to what we were doing at the beginning, we would currently have an old-fashioned fair. We have to keep up with the market whilst maintaining a balance, and that’s no easy task. If you look at the Fair, you’ll see that it presents what you would expect to find in a collector’s home: a skilful blend of ancient art, modern art, contemporary art and design.”

The guest of honour this year is the Paul Delvaux Foundation, to mark the 30th anniversary of the great Surrealist painter’s death. A dedicated space will present an overview of the artist’s career a real voyage into Paul Delvaux’s world and imagination. 2024 also marks the 100th anniversary of Surrealism and across the fair many galleries will be putting this historic movement on the spotlight.

As with its tradition, BRAFA puts authenticity foremost in its focus. Before the fair opens, two days are devoted to expert appraisals from more than 80 international experts across different disciplines and periods.

The BRAFA annual art talks will also be taking place this year. From Sunday January 28th to Sunday February 4th, 2024, except on Monday January 29th, 2024, a BRAFA Art Talk will take place daily at 4 pm at the King Baudouin Foundation stand, no. 137. Figures from the art world including Hannah Thijs, Head of Collections & Exhibitions at the Museum Hof van Busleyden in Mechelen, Camille Brasseur, Director of the Paul Delvaux Foundation and David Lainé, Senior partner painting conservation & research at the International Platform for Art Research and Conservation will share their expertise with visitors.

Of note is BRAFA’S considerations for sustainability. Among some of the inititatives include the stands built by STABILO from wooden structures. After the exhibition, the stands are dismantled and the various components (panels, friezes, etc.) are stored in one of the construction company’s warehouses for reuse. To reduce energy consumption, BRAFA asked its exhibitors to opt for LED lighting on their stands. Halls 3 & 4 at Brussels Expo are lit with LEDs. The carpet that covers the aisles of the Fair has been created by the Danish firm EGE, which works on the basis of a sustainable and circular approach to production. Every year, for example, its structures transform 2,495 tonnes of yarn made from discarded fishing nets, used carpets and other types of industrial waste into new carpets. What’s more, after each edition, the BRAFA carpet is donated to associations that give it a new lease of life.

For more information about BRAFA and full list of exhibiting galleries, visit the website:

www.brafa.art

@brafaartfair

Jean Serriere (France, 1893-1965), Pair of large wine-coolers, circa 1920 Swollen form with pedestal, embossed and chased with foliage and vine branches, two small handles welded to the neck on each side. 1st standard silver 950/°°, H 25 cm, Ø 22 cm, Weight: 5477 gr approx. Marked MINERVE, signature and hallmark of A. HEBRARD, Paris Unique piece commissioned by Madame Jeanne Lanvin. Photo courtesy Francis Janssens van der Maelen
Ernest Louis Jean Cremer (France, 1731-1793), Mahogany quartet table, circa 1780, Louis XVI period, H 74.5 x W 53.5 x D 38 cm Stamped by Cremer, received Master on July 13, 1777. Courtesy Costermans & Pelgrims de Bigard
Paul Delvaux, (Belgium, Antheit 1897-1994 Veurne), The Storm, 1962 Oil on canvas, 108 x 150 cm, Signed and dated: P. Delvaux / St Idesbald / 8-62, Courtesy of Galerie De Jonckheere. © Foundation Paul Delvaux, Belgium/SABAM, 2023-2024
Auguste Rodin (Paris 1840-1917 Meudon) L'homme au nez cassé, masque - type II 2e modèle (1903) Bronze with black-green patina, H 25.5 x W 20 x D 21.5 cm, Photo courtesy of Galerie Nicholas Bourriaud
Cameron JAMIE, 2023, Oil paint, flashe, acrylic polymer, pigment, oil pastel on linen, 195 x 130 cm, Framed: 197,5 x 132 x 4,5 cm 2023 © Photography Boris Kirpotin, May 2023 Athens, Greece
HyperFocal: 0 BRAFA 2023 - Axel Vervoordt © Axel Vervoordt
BRAFA 2023 - General View © Olivier Pirard
BRAFA 2023 - General View © Olivier Pirard
Back

Articles you also might like