24 - UARY 31 JANUAR RUARY 2027

BRUSSELS EXPO | HEYSEL

APPLY TO EXHIBIT
Artworks

This section will be available this Autumn.

Galleries
Galleries Galerie AB - Agnès Aittouarès Franck Anelli Fine Art Ars Antiqua d'Arschot & Cie Art et Patrimoine - Laurence Lenne Arte-Fact Fine Art Artimo Fine Arts Galerie Ary Jan Galerie BA - Berthet Aittouarès HELENE BAILLY MARCILHAC Véronique Bamps Barbara Bassi Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art Galerie de la Béraudière Galerie Berès Bernier/Eliades Galeria Bessa Pereira Galerie BG Arts Boon Gallery Galerie Alexis Bordes Bernard Bouisset Galerie Boulakia Galerie Nicolas Bourriaud Brame & Lorenceau Cabinet of Curiosities - Honourable Silver Objects Galerie Capazza Giammarco Cappuzzo Fine Art Carlucci Gallery Galerie Jean-François Cazeau Galerie Cento Anni Chambre professionnelle belge de la Librairie Ancienne et Moderne (CLAM) Citadelles & Mazenod CKS Gallery Claes Gallery Collectors Gallery COLNAGHI Costermans Dalton Somaré De Brock De Jonckheere Galerie Bernard De Leye Galerie Oscar De Vos De Wit Fine Tapestries De Zutter Art Gallery Dei Bardi Art Thomas Deprez Fine Arts Patrick Derom Gallery Desmet Fine Arts Virginie Devillez Fine Art DIE GALERIE Douwes Fine Art b.v. Epoque Fine Jewels Finch & Co Galerie Flak A&R Fleury Galerie La Forest Divonne Galerie Christophe Gaillard Galerie des Modernes Gilden's Art Gallery Grusenmeyer-Woliner Galerie Hadjer Galerie Haesaerts-le Grelle Philippe Heim Heutink Ikonen Galerie Hioco Hoffmans Antiques Huberty & Breyne Galerie Hurtebize rodolphe janssen Francis Janssens van der Maelen Kunsthaus Kende Harold t’Kint de Roodenbeke Florian Kolhammer Hartford Fine Art - Lampronti Gallery Alexis Lartigue Lemaire Galerie Lowet de Wotrenge Francis Maere Fine Arts Maison D'Art Maisonjaune Studio Martins&Montero Martos Gallery MARUANI MERCIER MassModernDesign Galerie Mathivet Mearini Fine Art Galerie Greta Meert Meessen Galerie la Ménagerie Mulier Mulier Gallery Jan Muller Antiques Klaas Muller NARDI VENEZIA Nosbaum Reding Dr. Nöth kunsthandel Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels Objects With Narratives Galeria Jordi Pascual Galerie La Patinoire Royale Bach Pauline's Jewellery Box Pelgrims de Bigard Galerie Alexis Pentcheff Christophe Perlès Galerie Perrin Guy Pieters Gallery Gallery de Potter d’Indoye Galerie de la Présidence Pron Van Pruissen Asian Art QG Gallery Maison Rapin Almine Rech Stéphane Renard Fine Art Repetto Gallery robertaebasta Romigioli Antichità Laurent Schaubroeck Serge Schoffel - Art Premier Segoura Fine Art Edouard Simoens Gallery Herwig Simons Fine Arts Stern Pissarro Gallery Stone Gallery Galerie Taménaga TASCHEN TEMPLON The old Treasury Galerie Patrice Trigano unforget Decorative Arts Univers du Bronze Vagabond Antiques Gallery Sofie Van de Velde Van Herck-Eykelberg Galerie Raf Van Severen Samuel Vanhoegaerden Gallery Maurice Verbaet Gallery Galerie von Vertes Axel Vervoordt Galerie Dina Vierny VKD Jewels Galerie Florence de Voldère N. Vrouyr Floris van Wanroij Fine Art Galerie Watteeu by Edouard & Andrea de Caters Victor Werner WHITFORD Willow Gallery
 

Maisonjaune Studio

ingo maurer

Ingo Maurer (Germany, 1932-2019) Hana Chandelier (Uchiwa collection), 1970s Bamboo, Japanese paper Provenance: Japan The Hana chandelier belongs to Ingo Maurer’s Uchiwa collection, created in the 1970s. Handmade in Japan from bamboo and Japanese paper fans, it radiates lightness and poetry. Its sculptural presence blends tradition with refined modernity. Exceptionally rare today, it stands as one of Maurer’s most iconic creations.

 

Vagabond Antiques

Pair of carved Heraldic stone lions Central European, Hapsburg Territories, late 17th century Carved limestone H 90 x W 57 x D 77 cm A striking pair of limestone lions, carved in full relief and designed as true opposites. Each is seated upright, with bared teeth, strong haunches and tightly curled manes. Both wear a crown and hold an oval cartouche carved in bold relief with an interlaced monogram. They were made to flank the formal entrance of a major estate. The form and detailing are typical of high-status Baroque culture in Central Europe and the crown design is especially telling. Each features a repeating pattern of fleur-de-lis and crosses, closely following the design of imperial crowns used in Habsburg heraldry - particularly in the realms of Austria and Bohemia. A crucial distinction is the placement of such a crown directly on the animal - not merely above the cipher - which indicates an emblem of royal standing. Comparable examples can be seen on the monumental lions at Prince Eugene of Savoy's Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna and others across Bavaria and Austria, where lions were used as heraldic supporters for noble or imperial arms. The monograms are hard to decipher but are almost certainly ciphers for the original owners or patrons. They likely stood at the gates of a major estate or seat of power under Habsburg rule or allegiance, marking out territories and status.

 

Virginie Devillez Fine Art

pierre-louis flouquet

Pierre-Louis Flouquet (Paris 1900-1967 Brussels) Féminités, circa 1923-1925 Oil on canvas 125 x 87 cm Signed lower right 'flouquet' Provenance: Galerie Patrick Derom, Brussels; private collection, Brussels; private collection, Brussels (by descent to the present owner) Literature: Serge Goyens de Heusch, Pierre-Louis Flouquet. 1900-1967, Brussels, Fondation pour l’Art belge, 1993, (ill. p. 56) Exhibitions: Brussels, Galerie Patrick Derom, The Avant-garde of the 1920s in Belgium, 1992, cat. n° 12 (ill.); Drogenbos, FeliXart Museum, L’Équerre / 7 Arts 1923, scenographic reconstruction of the fair stand of the publishing house L’Équerre, 2008-2011, no catalogue published Born in Paris, Pierre-Louis Flouquet was nine years old when his family moved to Brussels. Mainly self-taught, he received a brief artistic education at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, where he met, among others, Victor Servranckx and René Magritte. The latter soon shared a studio with Flouquet, who began producing geometric works that represented a true synthesis of Cubism and Futurism. Throughout the 1920s, Flouquet exhibited frequently on the international stage - in Paris, Madrid, New York, Chicago, Buenos Aires, and Berlin, at the Galerie Der Sturm. For the gallery’s eponymous magazine, Flouquet even designed a large number of covers. During this period, he developed an art that evolved primarily through distinct series: Paysage plastique, Féminités, Composition, Formes, and Construction. The large-scale painting Féminités belongs to the series of the same name, begun in 1922, which explores geometric variations on the morphology of the female body. The rigor and purity that Flouquet infused into these anthropomorphic stylizations - further emphasized by his distinctive sense of composition - reveal his fascination with the formal perfection of the new technological creations of the modern age. Yet, in Flouquet’s work, as in that of Fernand Léger, such faith in mechanical forms does not lead to a total rejection of figuration, but rather to a search for plastic correspondences between the human and the machine. The composition Féminités is particularly harmonious, achieving a balance between line and color, enhanced by a marble-like background that lends warmth to the work.

 

Hoffmans Antiques

Pair of side cabinets Paris, circa 1800 Walnut, mahogany, and mahogany veneer with gilt-bronze mounts, grey Bardiglio marble tops H 88 x W 45 x D 44 cm In the manner of Luigi and Antonio Manfredini, Paris Provenance: private European collection This pair of neoclassical cabinets reflects the refined elegance of early 19th-century Parisian design. Each cabinet combines function with ornament, comprising drawers, a cupboard, and a concealed drawer. The gilt-bronze mounts feature central lion masks and Egyptian-inspired motifs, a reference to the vogue sparked by Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign. Topped with slabs of grey Bardiglio marble, the cabinets blend practicality and decorative sophistication.

 

Univers du Bronze

Emile-Antoine Bourdelle (France, 1861-1929) Beethoven à la colonne aux yeux fermés (1901) Studio plaster as 'à bon creux' H 62.4 x W 32 x D 28.3 cm Signed in relief 'Bourdelle' in the mould. Artist example detailled on the front in autograph writing '"Moi, je suis Bacchus... le nectar délicieux, Beethoven", dedicated on the base on the left " A Mlle Henriette Charasson, très sympathiquement, E.A.Bourdelle", example reworked by him (with letters from the sculptor to the patron). Cast in 1910

 

Florian Kolhammer

louis c. tiffany

Louis C. Tiffany (New York 1848-1933 New York) Jack-in-the-pulpit vase Tiffany, 1906 Yellow glass H 44 x 23.5 x 12.5 cm Marked 'L.C.T.' and '2210A' underneath Provenance: Christie's sale The 'Jack-in-the-pulpit' vases represent a special design category within the production of the Louis Comfort Tiffany company. These glasses were modeled after the Arisaema Triphyllum plant and are among the most iconic designs of this famous manufacturer. Our example shines in pure gold. It was made in 1906 and received as a wedding gift at the time.

 

CKS Gallery

Victor Vasarely (Hungary 1906-1997 Paris) Syrom, 1956-1959 Acrylic on canvas 162 x 130 cm Provenance: acquired from the artist by the previous owner

 

Galerie Florence de Voldère

frederik bouttats l'ancien

Frédérik Bouttats the Elder (Antwerp, 1590-1661) Earthly paradise Oil on canvas 55.5 x 83 cm A painter of landscapes, paradises, and animals, he was also an engraver. He joined the Antwerp Guild as early as 1612. He had two pupils, as well as his sons Frédérik the Younger and Jacob. Founder of a famous family of artists, he contributed, along with his followers, to the influence and richness of Flemish painting through brilliant works under the influence of Velvet Brueghel, Jan van Kessel, and Roelandt Savery. To the great delight of naturalists and humanist scholars, the Breughels and their painter friends such as the Bouttats multiplied the themes of the Earthly Paradise, celebrating the beauty and diversity of creation. Like the Bird Traps, these paradises met with great success, and different versions can now be seen in the world’s greatest museums.

 

Galerie Hioco

standing buddha

Standing Buddha Schist Ancient Gandhāra region, 2nd-3rd century AD H 103 cm Provenance: private collection, France

 

Maison D'Art

Francesco Foschi (Ancona 1710-1780 Rome) Winter landscape with travellers, circa 1770 Oil on canvas 62 x 74 cm Provenance: private collection, Monte-Carlo, 2021

 

Finch & Co

Turned standing cup and cover on knopped foot Germany, late Renaissance, first half 17th century Rhinoceros horn and ivory, old smooth patina, age cracks to foot H 33 cm - Ø 11 cm Belgium CITES: 2025/BE01678/CE Provenance: Finch and Co, item n° 77, catalogue n° 20, summer 2013; private collection Comparative literature: a cup and cover of similar shape engraved with the inscription ‘the exalted Roman Emperor Rudolf II’s goblet which protects against poison – the unconquerable Emperor’s hand shaped this ingenious goblet’ D 406.766 / 339 Royal Danish Kunstkammer, Copenhagen, National Museum A fine and large late Renaissance turned standing cup and cover on knopped foot of impressive size The Milanese master instructor of turning Giovanni Ambrogio Maggiore visited Bavaria on various occasions between 1574 and 1593 to teach the Duke Wilhelm this newly invented form of art, creating marvellous objects from natural substances. Maggiore also trained the artist Georg Wecker who went on to become Dresden’s ‘court turner for life’ to the elector Augustus of Saxony in 1578. Regarded at the time as a form of advanced mechanical technology, the art of turning in ivory, ebony and rhinoceros horn became a princely pastime for ‘Drechselnder souverän’. Rhinoceros horn objects were regarded as items of great rarity and prestige in Renaissance Europe, but they had been seen as objects of great value with inherent magical properties for well over one thousand years before this time in China, and by the early 17th century Chinese cups and vessels of carved rhino horn were being exported to Europe to meet the demand for exotic curiosities for the cabinets of wealthy collectors.

 

Véronique Bamps

castelleni .

Castellani Choker fringed with gold vine leaves and clusters of white grapes in glass paste Archaeological-style necklace, circa 1870

 

Galerie Alexis Bordes

paolo anesi

Paolo Anesi (Rome, 1697-1773) View of the Ponte Cestio from the Tiber island Oil on canvas 28 x 48 cm Provenance: anonymous sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot (Maître Baudoin), May 31st, 1919, lot n° 98 (Vanvitelli, View of a city-houses rise on both banks of a river crossed by a stone bridge. In the foreground, on the ground to the right, a fragment of a fluted column and a broken capital); private collection, France Literature: Olivier Michel, Biographical Research on Paolo Anesi, in Publications de l'École Française de Rome, Vivre à peindre à Rome au XVIIIe siècle, vol. 217, 1996, pp. 319–334 Praised during his lifetime as one of the most brilliant vedute painters of the eighteenth century in Italy, Paolo Antonio Anesi nevertheless remains a figure whose life and work are still little studied. Active in Rome, Anesi never left his native city. The panoramas offered by its hills provided him with a multitude of striking viewpoints. The Aventine, one of Rome’s seven hills, appears to have been a favourite subject. To produce his painting, Anesi positioned himself on the Isola Tiberina, a small island in the middle of the Tiber, connected to the left bank by the Ponte Cestio and to the right bank by the Ponte Fabricio.

 

Galerie Cento Anni

Jean Després (Souvigny 1889-1980 Avallon) Pair of chandeliers, circa 1930-1935 Silver-gilt metal H 13.5 X W 33 cm Signed J.Deprés Master's mark JD Provenance: private collection, Belgium The model of this pair is the only one known to date

 

Artimo Fine Arts

charles-auguste fraikin

Charles-Auguste Fraikin (Herentals 1817-1893 Brussels) Emerging from the Sea Bath White Carrara marble H 123 x W 37 x D 33 cm Provenance: Francis Meyer collection, Switzerland Literature: Fraikin, Charles-Auguste. Catalogue de la galerie. Musée Fraikin de Herenthals offert par l'artiste à sa ville natale l'an 1891. Herentals: Typ. L. Bongaerts-Verbeeck, 1891; Engelen & Marx. La sculpture en Belgique à partir de 1830. Tome III: Devreese-Hecq. Bruxelles : Éditions Ars 2006, pp. 1550-1557 With this work, Charles-Auguste Fraikin celebrates feminine beauty captured in the intimacy of a daily gesture: that modest and natural act of a young woman emerging from the water and wringing out her long hair. The sculptor excels here in the art of suggestion rather than revelation. The delicately fitted drapery clings to the body’s contours whilst gracefully concealing them, playing on the translucency of the marble and the softness of the volumes. The work bears witness to the dual influence of classical ideals and the romantic taste for a sensitive evocation of femininity. Through his treatment of surfaces - silken, clean, almost vibrant - Fraikin achieves a remarkable degree of refinement whilst preserving a clear narrative: that of a moment suspended in time, poised between genre scene and allegory. Emerging from the Sea Bath brilliantly illustrates Fraikin’s ability to combine modesty with sensuality, simplicity with virtuosity, in a sculpture that speaks both to the eye and to the imagination.

 

Galerie Greta Meert

john baldessari

John Baldessari (USA, 1931-2020) The Purple Series: Periwinkle, 2016 Varnished inkjet print on canvas with acrylic paint 240.7 x 111.4 cm

 

Galerie Oscar De Vos

emile claus

Emile Claus (Waregem 1849-1924 Astene) Villa Zonneschijn (Sunshine) and the Lys, 1893 Oil on canvas 83 x 73 cm Signed lower left: Emile Claus Dated and monogrammed on reverse: Juli 1893 / E.C. Provenance: private collection, Belgium Literature: Buysse, C., Emile Claus. Mijn broeder in Vlaanderen (1925); De Smet, J., Retrospectief Emile Claus (1997); De Smet, J., Emile Claus en het landleven (2009); De Smet, J., Emile Claus. Prins van het luminisme (2024); Lemonnier, C., Emile Claus (1908)

 

Galerie Mathivet

François-Xavier Lalanne (Agen 1927-2008 Ury) Lamp sculpture 'Grand Echassier', 1990 Glass, patinated copper and bronze H 68 x W 61 x D 35 cm Monogrammed FXL, numbered 60/900 Figini foundry stamp and Artcurial publisher's mark

 

Collectors Gallery

Arman (Nice 1928-2005 New York) Capricorn brooch in gold Zodiac collection, 1994 Certificate of authenticity and copy of the artist’s original drawing on the letterhead of the Hôtel Lutetia, where the artist resided and designed the models for this collection Provenance: Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier, successor to Editions Artcurial

 

Guy Pieters Gallery

karel appel

Karel Appel (Amsterdam 1921-2006 Zurich) Polderkoe, 1952 Oil on canvas 82 x 116 cm This work is registered in the archives of the Karel Appel estate Provenance: Martha Jackson Gallery, New York; private collection, Belgium; Galerie Krikhaar, Amsterdam; private collection, Brussels

 

DIE GALERIE

johannes heisig

Johannes Heisig (Leipzig, 1953) Großes Stillleben, 2025 Oil on canvas 200 x 170 cm Monogrammed and dated lower right Provenance: the artist's studio Exhibition: Johannes Heisig - Weltgefühl, DIE GALERIE Frankfurt am Main, 2025

 

Citadelles & Mazenod

Honzo Zufu Illustrated album in five volumes of the 'materia medica', completed in 1828 by Iwasaki Kan'en H 29 x W 25 x D 19.5 cm Limited and numbered edition of 999 copies Published by Citadelles & Mazenod in 2025

 

Florian Kolhammer

joseph maria olbrich

Joseph Maria Olbrich (Czech Republic 1867-1908 Germany) & Josef Hoffmann (Czech Republic 1870-1956 Austria) Secessionist side table, circa 1900 Solid maple, inlaid ebony and white metal H 70 x W 56 x D 56 cm Provenance: private collection, Austria Literature: Josef Maria Olbrich, Ideen von Olbrich, 2nd edition, Leipzig 1904, p. 67; Association of Austrian Visual Artists (ed.), Ver Sacrum.Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs (Hrsg.), Ver Sacrum. Mittheilungen der Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs, 1900, 1st issue, pp. 4, 9 & 15 Exhibition: displayed at the fifth exhibition of the Vienna Secession 1899 This elegant Secessionist side table was created around 1900 through the collaboration of two influential artists of Viennese Modernism: Joseph Maria Olbrich and Josef Hoffmann. The design of the table's body by Olbrich was first published in 1899 in 'Ideen von Olbrich'. The characteristic ornament was originally designed by Hoffmann as a decorative frieze for the fifth Secession Exhibition and documented in the magazine 'Ver Sacrum' (1900). It is highly probable that this furniture piece was specially created for this exhibition. Particularly noteworthy are the original design drawing by Olbrich and the ornament by Hoffmann. The exceptional quality and characteristic fittings strongly suggest production by the renowned Viennese art furniture workshop Portois & Fix, famous for numerous designs associated with the Vienna Secession, predominantly by Hoffmann.

 

Edouard Simoens Gallery

raoul de keyser

Raoul De Keyser (Deinze, 1930-2012) Untitled, 1967 Oil on canvas 120 x 150 cm Provenance: acquired from the artist; private collection Literature: 'Raoul De Keyser: early works. Catalogue of paintings 1964-1980', Publ. Walther König, Keulen 2024, n° RDK-67 ill. Exhibition: Beervelde 20 km: Roger Raveel, Lucassen, Raoul De Keyser, Elias Kaleidoskoop, Gent 1967; 'Raoul De Keyser', Gal. M.A.S., Deinze 1967

 

Galerie Ary Jan

lucien levy-dhurmer

Lucien Levy-Dhurmer (Alger 1865-1953 Vésinet) The white veil, 1891 Pastel and gold gouache on paper 41.5 x 35.5 cm Signed, located and dated upper right 'Lucien Lévy / Golfe Juan 91'

 

Thomas Deprez Fine Arts

jean delville

Jean Delville (Leuven 1867-1953 Brussels) Aveugle, 1888 Oil on canvas 65 x 81 cm Signed and dated l.l.: 'Jean Delville / 1888' Relined, with a fair amount of retouching Provenance: private collection, Brussels, since three generations. Exhibitions: Salon de Gand, XXXIVe Exposition Triennale, Ghent, 1889, cat. n° 166, as: 'Aveugle'; L'Essor, XIIIe exposition annuelle, Brussels, 1889, cat. n° 4, as: 'Aveugle' PRESS F.N., 'Chronique Artistique', dans: Journal de Bruxelles, 24/03/1889, p. 5 (Supplément au Journal de Bruxelles du 24 mars 1889): 'L'Aveugle, la femme si visiblement plongée en des pensées lourdes et étroites, qui se chauffe [...]'

 

Hartford Fine Art - Lampronti Gallery

Pietro Paolini (Italy, Luccia 1603-1681) Portrait of an artist at the easel Oil on canvas 59.4 x 68.5 cm Expertise by M. Pulini, 2023 Exhibition: Roma Pittrice. Artiste al lavoro tra XVI e XIX secolo, Museo di Roma, Palazzo Braschi, 2024-2025

 

Gallery de Potter d’Indoye

Pair of oil lamps Ormoulu and patinated bronze Embossed gilt bronze and patinated bronze, representing the allegory of Philosophy and Study, each seated on an antique oil lamp, with an edge in gadroon motif, on a square footed base France, Consulat period, circa 1800 H 31 x W 36 cm Based on a model by Louis-Simon Boizot Comparative literature: H. Ottomeyer et P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 294, fig. 4.17.1. I, p. 294, fig. 4.17.1. This pair of oil lamps is clearly designed in a neoclassical style, and, more specifically, in the 'Etruscan' style which came into vogue in the 1780s. This style draws its inspiration from antique forms rediscovered in archaeological digs, in particular those at Pompeii and Herculaneum, and manifested in the decorative arts by simple lines and ornamentation inspired by Antiquity. The allegorical figures of Philosophy and Study, which decorate these lamps, are taken from models created by Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), then sculptor for the King. Boizot designed them for the first time in 1780 for a lamp in the antique style. He sold the model to the Sèvres factory, which then reproduced it in biscuit porcelain until 1786. These two figures were also used in the famous clock model, 'To Study and to Philosophy', created based on a drawing by François Rémond for the decorative arts merchant Dominique Daguerre. It is important to note that Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751–1843), a reputed bronze worker, collaborated with Boizot in Sèvres beginning in 1783, the date when he succeeded Jean-Claude Thomas Duplessis (1730-1783) as the official bronze worker for the factory. The involvement of Thomire in the production of bronzes of this type is widely acknowledged. Comparable oil lamps include: - a pair kept at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (inv. 88.SB.113.1 et 88.SB.113.2), attributed to Thomire; - another from the former collection of Sir Robert Abdy, sold at Christie's London on June 9th, 1994, lot 65,; - a pair offered for sale at Christie's London on December 13th, 2001, lot 430. - finally, a pair presented in the Madame Simone Steinitz collection at Christie's in Paris on June 19th, 2025, Paris lot 126. A drawing attributed to Thomire, kept at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, depicts a very similar lamp placed to the right of a fireplace (cf. J. Bourne et V. Brett, L’art du luminaire, Paris, 1992, p. 156, fig. 530). In addition, two sketches found in an album of drawings analysed by P. Rosenberg and B. Peronnet (Revue de l’Art, n° 142, 2003-2004) bear witness to the distribution and success of these models. They perfectly illustrate the taste for Antiquity, which dominated French decorative arts in the late eighteenth century.

 

Galerie Lowet de Wotrenge

frans pourbus the elder (bruges 1545/46 - 1581 antwerp)

Frans Pourbus the Elder (Bruges 1545-1581 Antwerp) Portrait of Peeter van Panhuys, alderman and treasurer of Antwerp, 1562 Oil on oak panel 105 x 75 cm Dated upper left 'A°. 1562' and inscribed below the date ‘Aetat: 34’ Provenance: private collection, Belgium Literature: R. Willmott, Antwerp and the Golden Age: Culture, Conflict and Commerce, Unicorn, 2025 (ill.) In an era when wealth and power increasingly resided not in hereditary titles but in commerce and banking, Frans I Pourbus captured the self-assured gaze of the new elite. This striking portrait depicts Peeter van Panhuys - merchant, banker's agent, and future treasurer of Antwerp - at a pivotal moment in his rise through one of Europe's most dynamic commercial centers. The work's contemporary resonance is unmistakable. Van Panhuys embodies the entrepreneurial spirit that still defines global finance, yet his story also reflects our modern anxieties: barely two decades after this portrait was painted, religious conflict forced him to flee Antwerp as a refugee, abandoning everything he had built. His biography encapsulates the precariousness of prosperity in times of social upheaval - a theme that speaks powerfully to today's world of political instability and forced migration. Pourbus renders his subject with remarkable psychological acuity. The prominent gold chain and exquisitely detailed black doublet announce van Panhuys' status, while the crisp white ruff - painted with virtuosic precision - frames a face of penetrating intelligence. In his left hand, he holds a pair of gloves, a refined accessory that signals his gentlemanly aspirations and membership in Antwerp's sophisticated mercantile elite. Recently rediscovered from a Belgian private collection, the sitter's identity is confirmed through his appearance in Maerten de Vos's monumental family portrait at the Mauritshuis, where van Panhuys stands among the interconnected dynasties that dominated Antwerp's Golden Age. This painting invites us to reconsider the origins of our modern world - built not by kings and generals, but by ambitious merchants whose portraits demanded the same dignity once reserved for nobility.

 

Barbara Bassi

mouboussin multicolor stone set

Maison Mauboussin Multicolour set of necklace and earrings, 1980s Diamonds, pearls and coloured precious stones mounted in 18 kt yellow gold Provenance: private collection, Italy

 
{image}

{dealerName}

{caption}