EXHIBITORS NEWS

Participant à la BRAFA depuis 2004, la Galerie Alexis Bordes est heureuse de revenir pour la 71ème édition de cette foire éclectique et en plein essor. Cette année, nous proposons un ensemble éclectique d’oeuvres européennes du XVIIe au XXe siècle. Cette sélection ne reflète pas une thématique choisie au préalable mais une succession de coups de coeur. Au fil des acquisitions, des tendances se révèlent néanmoins et traduisent naturellement de grandes lignes directrices. 

Le paysage apparait sous le pinceau et le crayon des artistes travaillant en plein air. Sur le motif, ils parviennent à capturer l’essence de la réalité. Parmi eux, Spillaert, Frank Boggs ou Achille Laugé ont chacun un traitement propre de la lumière et de la touche, reflétant la vision unique de leur environnement. 

Le genre du portrait prend également une place déterminante dans notre accrochage. Il complète notre appréhension d’un mouvement artistique et d’une époque. Ces oeuvres sont le témoignage des habitudes passées. Cette dimension se retrouve dans les diverses scènes de genre que nous présentons. Ces oeuvres dressent finalement un portrait artistique de l’Europe, à la fois géographique, historique et culturel...

Nicolas Lancret (Paris, 1690-1743), The hurdy-gurdy player in gallant company in a park, Oil on canvas, 94 x 74 cm, carved and gilt wood frame with Louis XV period decoration of shells, acanthus leaves, and small flowers.

Galerie Greta Meert’s first participation in BRAFA presents a tightly curated selection reflecting the gallery’s core vision. For over thirty-five years, the gallery has fostered dialogue between historical and contemporary art through shared concerns for ideas, form and continuity. The stand is conceived not as a survey but as an exploration of how generations and media enrich one another.

The historical foundation includes pivotal works by key postwar artists. Carla Accardi’s pieces from the 1960s–1980s trace the evolution of her visual language. Rare studies by John Baldessari reveal stages of his conceptual practice. Enrico Castellani’s monumental Superficie Bianca highlights his exploration of relief and light. Works on paper by Sol LeWitt, a Frame Painting by Robert Mangold, and pieces by Shirley Jaffe, Lee Mullican and Antonio Sanfilippo deepen this context.

The contemporary selection shows the continuity of artistic questions across time. Edith Dekyndt, Noam Rappaport, David Claerbout, James White, Magali Reus, Didier Vermeiren and Louise Lawler each investigate materiality, temporality, form and spatial positioning in distinct ways.

A third pillar is Donald Judd’s furniture - presented not as design objects but as extensions of his sculptural logic, reinforcing the dialogue between art, design, space and function.
Overall, the stand embodies the gallery’s belief in art as a network of relationships. By juxtaposing historical icons, studies and contemporary works, it highlights how ideas move across time, inviting viewers to discover connections between generations, media and modes of seeing.

Discover a selection of works presented at BRAFA 2026 in the press release

Donald Judd, Bookshelf 14, 1984, Aluminium / mint green RAL 6029, H 100 x W 100 x D 50 cm
Courtesy the artist and Galerie Greta Meert

At BRAFA, Gallery Sofie Van de Velde presents a carefully composed presentation where modern and contemporary art enter into dialogue. Works by twentieth-century pioneers are shown alongside creations by today’s artists, revealing both underlying connections and striking contrasts. Movement and stillness emerge as recurring themes: from the rhythmic forms and innovative spirit of modernism to the quiet focus and introspection that resonate across generations.

One theme that emerges is the notion of movement. The work of ealy 20th-century innovators such as Victor Servranckx, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee is centred on the dynamics of rhythm and form, rooted in the progressiveness and energy of the avant-garde. This is contrasted with the tranquillity emanating from the paintings of Karin Hanssen, Ilse D'Hollander, Cristof Yvoré and the subtle works of Raoul De Keyser and Willy De Sauter. These artists allow the power of silence and concentration to take precedence over the urge for speed.

At the same time, the contemporary works of Pieter Jennes and Jesse Tomballe hold their ground alongside Andy Warhol's pop art....

These juxtapositions create a dynamic tension between periods and styles, where colour, repetition and rhythm serve as bridges between past and present. Rather than offering a historical overview, the presentation embodies a living conversation between artists across time and expression.

Virginie Devillez is a Brussels-based expert and dealer in Belgian and international art with over 25 years of experience. She has facilitated major acquisitions for museums including the Musée d’Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Mu.ZEE, and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Holding a PhD from the Université libre de Bruxelles, she previously served as curator at the Royal Museums and project manager for the Magritte Museum. After directing leading contemporary galleries, she worked at Sotheby’s (2016–2023) as an expert in Impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary Art. She is a member of the René Magritte Authentication Committee, a researcher, an independent curator, and is currently preparing a Magritte exhibition for 2028.

In January 2026, the gallery will exhibit for the first time at BRAFA Art Fair, where it will present a selection of Belgian artists including Georges Lemmen, James Ensor, Rik Wouters, Victor Servranckx, Pierre-Louis Flouquet, René Magritte, Paul Delvaux, Gustave De Smet and Jean Brusselmans.

Maison d'Art will present the following exhibition at BRAFA titled 'True to Life'. Usually we refer to 'truth to life' when we’re speaking about fiction in writing or the visual arts. Of course it depends on what your definition of truth is, not to mention life itself, which is sometimes inscrutable (certainly in dreams). People looking at paintings in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries saw the subjects before them as a reflection of different kinds of truth: literal verisimilitude, as we see here in the paintings of Gentileschi and Ribera, who sought to depict the whole truth and whose fascination with naturalism was expressed through a blend of close observation and stunning pictorial technique.

In the Quattrcoento and Cinquecento – the great era of the Italian Renaissance – a holy image would bring the truth of faith into the home, as our Tuscan and Ferrarese panels once did for their fortunate, devout owners. The lively and sweetly melancholic Virgin and Child of the 1470s, the Holy Family by Foschi (recently exhibited in the Accademia, Florence), reflecting the energetic style of sixteenth-century Florentine art, and the intimate Adoration of the Shepherds by Garofalo, with its refined sense of colour – all these pictures offered reassurance in a period of growing doubt.

Painting could also illustrate subjects on the border between literature and allegory, as in Lomazzo’s Boat, which has great poetic truth even if its meaning continues to perplex scholars. Contemporary with that enigmatic work (around 1570), Giovanni Battista Della Porta’s statue of a woman in rosso antico evokes one of the oldest truths, the great era of Classical Antiquity, in which the idealized life of the gods is expressed in the finest way possible, through the human form.

Centuries ago, life was generally shorter and less predictable than it is now, and art always offered reassurance – as it should now. Living with these paintings and sculptures, sharing them, enjoying them, is still the greatest pleasure.

Marietta Vinci-Corsini
Pier Francesco Foschi (Florence, 1502-1567), The Madonna and Child and the Infant Saint John the Baptist.

At BRAFA 2026, Repetto Gallery presents a dialogue which traces the shifting landscape of European modernism through the 20th century. This special preview brings together seven of the artists selected for our booth: Valerio Adami, Christo, Giorgio de Chirico, Jean Dubuffet, Max Ernst, Kurt Schwitters, and Victor Vasarely. Though their paths differ - rooted in Surrealism,
Dada, Nouveau Réalisme, and Op Art - each of these artists shares an impulse to reimagine the conditions of seeing and being. 

Giorgio de Chirico’s metaphysical squares and silent architectures introduce a world where time stands still, where the dream precedes the image. From that stillness, Max Ernst and Kurt Schwitters draw motion: Ernst’s surrealist transformations of nature and psyche, and Schwitters’ collages that reassemble the debris of the modern world into new harmonies. Jean Dubuffet turns to raw matter and gesture.

Christo, by contrast, veils and wraps - his drawings capturing the paradox of concealment as a form of revelation, where the hidden becomes a new kind of visible. In Victor Vasarely’s optical geometries, structure vibrates into sensation; the visual field itself becomes alive, unstable, participatory. And Valerio Adami, with his incisive line and luminous color, reconstructs the image as a space of thought - where narrative unfolds through contour and symbol. Together, these artists propose a map of modernity in motion: their works speak to one another across decades, converging on a shared question - how art might continue to invent new forms of meaning within the flux of the twentieth century and beyond.

Ces tapisseries, tissées à Aubusson dans les ateliers d’exception qui ont accompagné les plus grands artistes du XXᵉ siècle, incarnent un moment clé de l’histoire de l’art moderne : celui où la peinture quitte le mur pour devenir espace, texture et lumière. Après le succès de l’exposition « La tapisserie d’Aubusson : La fabrique des icônes », présentée à Paris, la galerie poursuit son exploration d’un sujet fascinant : comment la tapisserie a façonné les icônes de la modernité. Dans un monde où l’image est devenue instantanée et dématérialisée, ces oeuvres rappellent la beauté d’un art lent, physique, tissé dans le temps. Ici, chaque fil est un trait de pinceau, chaque noeud une respiration. Entre la main du peintre et celle du lissier, entre le geste et la matière, s’est inventé un art total - à la fois populaire, monumental et profondément humain...

 

The HELENE BAILLY MARCILHAC Gallery is delighted to take part in the 71st edition of BRAFA for the fourteenth consecutive year.

On this occasion, the gallery will present a selection of Post-Impressionist, Fauvist, and Modern works, bringing together some of the most significant names from these pivotal artistic periods. 

Among the major works exhibited will be an exceptional painting by Émile Othon Friesz, dating from 1907, a vibrant testament to Fauvism at its height; an intimate Fauvist canvas by Henri Manguin from 1908, depicting a woman undressing; and a luminous work by Théo Van Rysselberghe, also from 1908, exemplifying the radiant Neo-Impressionist aesthetic of the time. 

The presentation will also feature a compelling dialogue between Francis Picabia and Victor Brauner, two leading figures of Surrealism. The works, coming from a private collection held within the same family for over thirty years, reveal the deep friendship and artistic affinity between the two artists. Picabia’s portrait of Brauner resonates with one of Brauner’s own compositions, forming a coherent and profoundly engaging ensemble. 

Completing this presentation is a poetic and monumental “Arbre à Cocons” by Charles Macaire. In this hand-crafted paper sculpture, the artist celebrates the beauty of gesture and the nobility of craftsmanship. Entirely shaped by hand, the piece embodies the meeting of artistic creation and artisanal savoir-faire, extending the dialogue between nature, material, and poetry.

While peasants sleep in the foreground of this jewel-like panel, a pointy-eared devil strides purposefully through their field, scattering weeds among the wheat. At first glance, Gillis Mostaert's
recently rediscovered painting appears to be a straightforward biblical illustration - a parable from Matthew about good and evil. Yet in the religious turmoil of 1560s Antwerp, this small work carried a dangerously progressive message: a call for tolerance in an age of persecution. 

The parable's critical verse - "Let both of them grow together until the harvest" - became a rallying cry for moderate theologians arguing against the execution of heretics. By depicting this subject, Mostaert and his contemporaries (including Pieter Bruegel the Elder) were making a subtle but radical statement: only God, not earthly authorities, should separate the righteous from the damned. In a decade that would see the outbreak of the Dutch Revolt and waves of religious violence, such calls for coexistence were as urgent as they were controversial.

Today, as debates over religious freedom, pluralism, and ideological division dominate global discourse, Mostaert's message resonates with uncomfortable immediacy. The painting asks: who decides what is wheat and what is weed? And what damage do we cause when we try to root out what we perceive as evil before its time? .... Read thie press release.

Pour l’édition 2026 de la BRAFA, Maison Rapin investit le stand 16 : un espace repensé et agrandi pour accueillir une scénographie inédite imaginée comme l’intérieur d’un collectionneur. Conçu comme une véritable immersion, le stand se déploie en un parcours à travers les espaces de vie d’un collectionneur, où pièces historiques et créations contemporaines du XXe siècle se répondent et s’entrecroisent. Du jardin d’hiver à la salle à manger, jusqu’à la chambre, chaque espace révèle l’éclectisme et la vision singulière qui caractérisent Maison Rapin.

Fidèle à son esprit, Maison Rapin propose ici une lecture vivante des arts décoratifs et du design du XXe siècle, transposée dans l’univers intimiste d’un collectionneur, dont chaque espace reflète le goût, la curiosité et la sensibilité.

 

For its ninth participation in BRAFA, the gallery is presenting a display that highlights the post-war School of Paris, while remaining true to the eclecticism that defines it.
Works by Pierre Soulages, Zao Wou-Ki, Gérard Schneider, and André Lanskoy will be featured. The presentation will bring together two major movements of the post-war School of Paris: lyrical abstraction, which dominated the 1950s and 60s, and figuration, represented by the groups of the New Realists and the artists of Narrative Figuration.

Works by Pierre Soulages and Zao Wou-Ki will echo current museum exhibitions. Paintings by Gérard Schneider, André Lanskoy, Serge Charchoune, Eugène Leroy, and Chu Teh-Chun will complete this panorama of post-war French abstraction.

The New Realism movement has benefited from genuine institutional reevaluation in recent years. The gallery is pleased to present at BRAFA 2026 a selection of works by the group, ranging from César’s welded iron pieces from 1955 (unique works) to Niki de Saint Phalle’s exuberantly colored Nanas from the 2000s, including a 1964 painting-relief by Martial Raysse, sculptures by Yves Klein from 1962, and a 1968 resin relief by César - a quadruple self-portrait of the artist.

Works by Eduardo Arroyo, Jean Hélion, and Alain Jacquet will round out the presentation, offering a broader vision of French figuration infused with a pop art spirit.

Stern Pissarro Gallery is pleased to present a carefully curated selection of impressionist, modern and contemporary works at BRAFA 2026. Spanning the late nineteenth century to today, the presentation reflects the gallery’s focus on established international artists.

Among the highlights is Confidence, les enfants Bernheim au salon by Édouard Vuillard, an exceptional domestic interior from a pivotal moment in his career that captures the intimate atmosphere of the Bernheim family home. Louis Hayet’s Sur les Champs-Élysées (1888) offers a vibrant example of early Pointillism, combining precise divided brushwork with a luminous palette.

Amedeo Modigliani’s Homme à la barbe, a fine work on paper published in Ceroni’s 1956 catalogue raisonné, exemplifies the artist’s elegant economy of line, while Marc Chagall’s L’hiver procession de Noël (Les quatre saisons) connects directly to his celebrated mosaic for Chicago’s Chase Tower Plaza.

Works on paper by Henry Moore and Paul Delvaux reveal each artist’s mastery of form and composition on an intimate scale. Contemporary highlights include Chiharu Shiota’s Endless Line, a two-dimensional work made using her signature red thread, and Yayoi Kusama’s Visionary Wave Crest (1978), a striking Infinity Net painting from 1978, combining enamel and acrylic to create a fascinating texture.

For its first participation at Brafa Art Fair in January 2026, the gallery will present a curated dialogue between Brazilian modern furniture and Italian lighting and decorative arts. The presentation will bring together the organic warmth of Brazil’s mid-century masters with the refined luminosity of Italian postwar design, creating a vivid counterpoint to the European winter.

At the center of the exhibition stands a selection of exceptional Brazilian works by José Zanine Caldas, Jorge Zalszupin, Joaquim Tenreiro, and Carlo Hauner, among others. These designers each represent a distinct chapter in Brazil’s design history, combining artisanal craftsmanship with a modernist sensibility rooted in tropical materials and natural forms. Their work captures the essence of mid-century Brazil, tactile, expressive, and profoundly human.

To complement this ensemble, the gallery will showcase lighting by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte and Angelo Lelii, two of Italy’s most celebrated figures in glass and light design. Their poetic compositions in brass, opaline glass, and crystal embody the refined sophistication that defined Italy’s postwar design renaissance. The installation will be further enriched with artworks by Dedalo Montali and Christoph Bollinger, whose sculptural and painterly gestures bridge the space between art and design.

Together, these pieces create a dialogue between continents, a meeting of Brazil’s sensual modernism and Italy’s sculptural elegance. The presentation seeks to evoke the warmth, rhythm, and material richness of South America within the refined architectural context of Brafa, celebrating a cross-cultural harmony that feels both timeless and invigorating.

Our debut at Brafa marks a long-awaited milestone. Having admired the fair for many years, we chose to join only when our collection felt mature enough to fully represent our vision. In 2026, that moment arrives. We will bring the best of the best, a selection that embodies the spirit, sophistication, and vitality of twentieth-century design.

Dei Bardi Art is delighted to present at Brafa 2026 an exquisite 15thcentury alabaster relief of The Resurrection of Christ, created by the celebrated Nottingham workshops - Europe’s leading centre for devotional alabaster sculpture.

Christ rises triumphantly from the tomb, his figure softly modelled with the luminous warmth unique to English alabaster. At his feet, soldiers lie sleeping, their armour and expressions carved with remarkable precision.

This panel carries an exceptional provenance, having belonged to two major museum collections. Once in the renowned Hubert Wilm Collection in Munich, it then entered the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, where it remained for nearly forty years. In the 20th century it joined the esteemed John & Johanna Bass Collection, before entering the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach in 1963. Historic museum numbers remain visible on the Stone - rare, tangible witnesses to its journey through major collections and institutional history.

Provenance :
– Collection Hubert Wilm, Munich (XIXᵉ siècle)
– Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (c. 1880–1920)
– Lamperts, Cologne, 1944
– Collection John & Johanna Bass, New York
– Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, 1963

At BRAFA 2026, Galerie Oscar De Vos presents the exhibition “Memories of the Lys Region 1850–1930”, a tribute to the artists who immortalised the river, the villages, and the light of the Lys region. In the 20th century, the village evolved into an international artists’ colony. 

The selection features highlights from eight decades of art, from Xavier De Cocks' Flemish Fairground (1857) and Albijn Van den Abeele's subdued Last Rays of Sunlight, Rising Moon (1904) to Emile Claus' rediscovered Villa Sunshine on the Lys (1893) and his iconic masterpiece After the Crossing (1899).

Never-before-seen works on the art market by Jenny Montigny (Summer, c.1905; The Lys at Deurle, 1934) and Maurice Sys (Nocturne, c.1905) are presented alongside expressionist canvases by Frits Van den Berghe, Constant Permeke, Hubert Malfait, and Albert Saverys.

The exhibition evokes the seasons, intimate interiors, and village life of the Lys Valley, forming a poetic remembrance of a landscape that continues to inspire artists and collectors alike...
More information in the Press file.