From Thursday, February 17th until Sunday, February 20th, 2022, in Brussels, collectors and art lovers will be able to meet up and discover the most beautiful pieces exhibited by 37 galleries who are represented at Brafa. This initiative, called the Brussels Art Walk, supported by BRAFA, was proposed by several Brussels dealers who will welcome their Belgian and foreign colleagues to exhibit in their galleries, offering an eclectic mix of artworks spanning over 2000 years of history, from archaeology to contemporary art.
8 Parisian galleries, 1 London gallery and 1 gallery from Barcelona will feature amongst these 37 participants. The Brussels Art Walk, supported by BRAFA, will mainly take place in the Sablon, in the lower part of the city, as well as in the galleries on both sides of the Avenue Louise.
THE PHILOSOPHY
The initiative aims to support Brafa exhibitors by offering them additional visibility, but its objective is also to maintain a link with collectors and to reach a new audience. It favours conviviality and exchanges, essential in these times of restrictions. Nothing beats the emotion experienced in front of a work of art! The galleries are well aware of this, and since Brafa 2022 has been postponed to June 19th–26th, they will present a sample of what the fair brilliantly succeeds in delivering every year: a perfect blend of styles and eras, a true journey through time and across cultures !
Harold t’Kint de Roodenbeke, the Chairman of Brafa, explains:
“We have colleagues from Ghent, Paris, London who will take up residence in galleries and exhibition spaces in the centre, in the Sablon, and near the Avenue Louise. This circuit promises to be a joy for art lovers, who will rediscover the eclecticism of Brafa, since the dealers will exhibit their most beautiful pieces from the fields of ancient, modern and contemporary art, tribal art, archaeology, furniture from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, sculptures, silverware and porcelain.”
HIGHLIGHTS
In the Sablon district :
The Maison Costermans, specialised in furniture and art objects from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, will be welcoming Belgian and French colleagues. From Paris, the Ary Jan Gallery, together with the Mathivet Gallery, will present a set of works by François–Xavier and Claude Lalanne in an original scenography combining Art Deco furniture and modern paintings by Marcel Delmotte, Amédée Marcel–Clément, Jean–Pierre Cassigneul… Jean Lemaire will also be exhibiting at this address, with porcelains from Brussels, Tournai, China and Meissen. Francis Maere, based in Ghent, will show a series of kinetic sculptures by Pol Bury, amongst other artists. Pol Bury will also be exhibited at the Collectors Gallery, which proposes jewellery and objects by twentieth and twenty–first century artists and designers.
At the Desmet Gallery, where ancient goddesses rub shoulders with emperors or neo–classical eighteenth–century vestal virgins, one of the highlights will be a superb bust of the emperor Nerva, Rome, 1800. The gallery will be turned into a wonderful cabinet of curiosity with the presence of the London exhibitor Finch & Co, which will present a varied collection of art objects from five continents including a rare Roman Jewish lead medallion from a sarcophagus with a representation of a Menorah.
In the Old Masters field, Jan Muller, usually based in Ghent, will exhibit together with his cousin Klaas Muller. The first will present a still life by Frans Snijders (Antwerp, 1579–1657), amongst other things, and the second, a traditional inn scene by David Teniers the Younger (Antwerp, 1610–1690).
Thomas Deprez Fine Arts, specialised in late–century Belgian art from 1880 to 1914, will receive visitors in his gallery for a special exhibition on the topic of industry in the fine and decorative arts. Man–Made: Art & Industry in fin–de–siècle Belgium presents a fine selection of paintings, drawings and sculptures by Constantin Meunier, and works by Emile Claus, Xavier Mellery… surrounded by furniture, ceramics and glassware by pioneers of Belgian Art Nouveau; Philippe Wolfers, A.W. Finch, Paul Du Bois and Léon Ledru.
In the Louise district:
Enjoy a stopover in the world of Philippe d’Arschot to contemplate pieces of European goldsmithery from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, as well as rings and jewels from the Renaissance period, including a delicate seventeenth–century engraved silver pomander, a scent–container with six–compartments for fragrant pastes or herbs.
With the Liquid Light exhibition, Baronian Xippas presents monochromes by Joseph Marioni, a major representative of abstract expressionism from the New York School. Nearby, Nosbaum Reding, a contemporary art gallery from Luxembourg, hostes De Wit Fine Tapestries, based in Mechelen. The abstract works of the German artist Peter Zimmermann will be presented alongside a selection of ancient tapestries, in a heterogeneous dialogue combining ancient and contemporary art.
The Galerie de la Béraudière brings a note of surprise to the Germaine Richier et La Couleur exhibition, whose staging was developed by Charles Kaisin. Must–sees: the praying mantis that welcomes visitors and a powerful bat that dominates the gallery space.
Didier Claes presents a selection of masks and statues from Central and Western Africa One of the centerpieces: an elegant Songye dagger from Central Africa. He will share his gallery with a colleague from Barcelona, Guilhem Montagut, whose highlight is a mask of the Ijo people of Nigeria dating from the nineteenth century. Still in connection with the African continent, the MARUANI MERCIER gallery will show a solo exhibition, Rumors of Blackness, by the young Ghanaian artist Kwesi Botchway, who creates portraits in bright colours that proudly evoke African identity, dignity, and beauty, as well as some universal themes: the place of women in society.
BRUSSELS ART WALK, supported by BRAFA
17 – 20 Febrary 2022
Brussels, Belgium
Opening dates and hours:
Thursday, February 17th, 2022 14h00–21h00
Friday, February 18th, 2022 11h00–18h00
Saturday, February 19th, 2022 11h00–18h00
Sunday, February 20th, 2022 11h00–18h00