BRAFA 2023: Return to normality

In 2023, BRAFA Art Fair is returning to its January dates in the calendar of international art fairs

Source: BRAFA and own elaboration · Image: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “La Baie de Villefranche-sur-Mer” (1899)

The 68th edition of BRAFA will take place from Sunday, January 29th to Sunday, February 5th at Brussels Expo at the Heysel in Halls 3 and 4, where 130 exhibitors will be taking over the entire space. This venue, the new setting for BRAFA since June, was greatly appreciated by its visitors at the last event, both for the openness of its aisles and for the very pleasant atmosphere that reigned there.

Harold t’Kint de Roodenbeke, the Chairman of BRAFA, explains: “We had a kind of trial gallop with a first BRAFA outside of our usual standards, since we proposed an event in a new space and at a different time due to a disrupted schedule. January will therefore be both a return to normality in terms of dates and also the writing of a new page in our history with Brussels Expo. Our current goal is to get back to our rhythm and our loyal customers, whilst developing the potential of the space.”

For this 2023 edition, a theme has been chosen in correlation with the initiative of the BrusselsCapital Region, which will make 2023 a year devoted to Art Nouveau. BRAFA will be highlighting this movement in several ways. The King Baudouin Foundation and some galleries specialised in this field will be presenting exceptional Art nouveau pieces. The creation of the BRAFA 2023 carpet will be based on original drawings by Victor Horta, and art lovers will be able to attend two “BRAFA Art Talks” devoted to Art nouveau.

The Fair strengthens the development of its international reputation through the quality and diversity of its galleries. Of the 130 exhibitors, 65% are based abroad. Christian Vrouyr, the General Secretary of BRAFA, says: “For over sixty years, BRAFA has stimulated the development of participating galleries, first at the national level, and then on the international scene. The Fair, which began as a local event, has been able to find the right tone over the years, making it possible to extend contacts with international customers.”

Highlights at BRAFA 2023

BRAFA includes a good selection of African art. Serge Schoffel – Art Premier includes an interesting Gyé mask (Ivory Coast), and Dalton Somaré does the same with a Mukudj mask (Gabon). Galerie Claes exhibits a small but impressive Nkisi Kongo figure (Congo), and a very interesting Lega figure (Congo). In Asian art, Galerie Hioco presents a stele representing Jina, or Tīrthaṅkara, created in India around the 7th-8th centuries, and a Buddha created in Ghandara (2nd-4th centuries).

In the old masters painting section, Giammarco Cappuzzo Fine Art offers an “Ecce Homo” attributed by the gallery to Sebastiano del Piombo. There are several versions of this work, one of which – a much larger version – is in the Museo del Prado. Jan Muller Antiques exhibits an “Interior of an Inn with a Woman Playing the Flute”, 1667, by David Teniers the Younger.

In the Impressionist and modern art section, Dr. Nöth Kunsthandel + Galerie presents “Rochers à l’île de Besse, Agay” (1914) by Armand Guillaumin, while Bailly Gallery offers a beautiful “La toilette”, circa 1904, by Henri-Edmond Cross. For those interested in the “big names”, Pierre-Auguste Renoir is represented by “La Baie de Villefranche-sur-Mer” (1899) on the stand of Stern Pissarro Gallery, a “Bather’s Study” (1896) at Galerie Ary Jan, and a “Bouquet d’anémones” (c.1906) exhibited by Helene Bailly. As for contemporary art, Galeria Jordi Pascual presents “Odalisca sobre fondo azul”, 2009, by Manolo Valdés, and Alexis Lartigue Fine Art presents an intense “Sin Título” (2008) by Chu Teh-Chun.