Born in 1928, a pioneer of Op Art and Kinetic Art, a founder member of G.R.A.V. (Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel), winner of the international Grand Prize in Painting at the Venice 1966 Biennale, Julio Le Parc is a forthright, committed artist.

His abundant work, in its many forms, imbued with a spirit of research and experimentation, explores the visual field, movement, light, and the relationship between the work and the viewer.

The tribute to Julio Le Parc at BRAFA will consist of the inclusion of 4 works at strategic points of the Fair; a large-scale Continuel Mobile from 1963 at the main entrance to the Fair, with Surface Couleur, a 1970 acrylic on canvas, at the centre, and, finally, two Sphères, with diameters of 2.10 m, on each patio at the ends of the aisles. These works will integrate with great impact into the general design of the Fair, which will be taking Kinetic Art as its theme.

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BRAFA is proud to announce its 2016 Guest of Honour: Ghent Floralies
2016 GHENT FLORALIES
22.04 > 01.05.2016

FLOWERS & PLANTS IN DIALOGUE WITH UNIQUE CITY LOCATIONS
In the spring of 2016, Ghent will be a new, dazzling city festival richer with the Ghent Floralies. For 10 days, flowers & plants, floral art, inspirational gardens and art installations will take over the Arts Quarter in Ghent.

The very first flower and plant exhibition took place in 1808 at an inn in Ghent and has gone through a spectacular metamorphosis of growth and evolution since then. In 2016, the Floralies is leaving the Flanders Expo halls for its 35th edition and returning to the City of Ghent with a dazzling flower and plant festival: leading national and international florists, ornamental growers, landscape architects and artists will carry on a dialogue based on constantly differing perspectives with unique, prestigious city locations at the four sites of the Arts Quarter (the Bijloke site, the Leopold Barracks, Saint Peter’s Square and Citadel Park). The event, with its world-class creations at all 4 sites and the invigorating green and floral pop-up accents along the pathway, offers an unforgettable green experience in the city.
Moreover, this brand-new edition will also, for the first time in the existence of the Floralies, be paying special attention to the integration and interpretation of flowers and plants in modern art installations. The Floralies is therefore very proud to be a guest of honour at the prominent 2016 Brussels Art Fair: both eclectic events consider top quality and authenticity to be of paramount importance.

A VIP visit to the 2016 Floralies
The Royal Society for Agriculture and Botany (KMLP), organiser of the Ghent Floralies, cordially invites you to come and admire the results of this intense interaction between architecture and green in Ghent in April 2016. We offer fans the possibility of attending this exceptional cultural event with international allures within a fabulous all-in 2-day deluxe VIP package. This also includes a visit to an art gallery in Ghent. For more information about the package, please contact Christel De Cock (christel.decock@floralien.be) or Frédéric De Backer (info@viparrangementen.com).

Come and get a preview of the 2016 Floralies at Brafa
Before the time actually comes, the Floralies is treating the Brafa public to a preview this winter. In honour of this prominent art and antiques trade fair, leading florist Mark Colle will be creating a number of stunning winter floral creations within the halls of Tour & Taxis. The showpiece is a colourful, airy floral installation incorporating red berries and vibrantly coloured tropical flowers, which will be located at the entrance. Dynamism and transparency: these are the keywords.

2016 GHENT FLORALIES:
PRACTICAL INFO
When: from Friday, 22 April to Sunday, 1 May 2016, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (no entrance permitted after 9 p.m.)
Where: Arts Quarter Ghent (the Bijloke site, the Leopold Barracks, Saint Peter’s Square and Citadel Park).
More info: www.floralien.be/en

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, BRAFA is honouring the Belgian collector in a selection by the King Baudouin Foundation
On the occasion of the 60th Brussels Antiques and Fine Art Fair, the organisers have chosen to honour “The Belgian Collector”. Breaking with its tradition of inviting a museum or cultural institution, BRAFA is honouring the Belgian collectors whose collaboration it has so valued over all these years. BRAFA asked the King Baudouin Foundation to select and present a number of private collections that demonstrate the quality and diversity of private collections in Belgium.

Visitors to the fair will thus have the opportunity to discover old and modern paintings, silverwork, tribal art, pieces of decorative art and old drawings. All are important works that have never, or only rarely, been exhibited. They can be described as the ambassadors of the ten or so collections represented, each of which has been assembled not only with great passion by the collector, but also with a love for our heritage.

The Foundation has selected collections whose owners expressed a particular desire for them to be left in total or partial perpetuity, in museums or elsewhere, in Belgium or abroad.

The collector has always cared about our heritage. Indeed, from the 19th century, collectors were key actors in saving and handing down our heritage and many public collections were born out of a private donation. Public bodies carried on the tradition, though mainly with an educational role in mind. From this point in time, the development of two types of collections could therefore be observed: the one public, with more of a scientific research objective, and the second private, reflecting the life and personality of the collector. These days, we can observe a certain rapprochement between these two types of collection as public collections turn increasingly to the private collector, sometimes temporarily, sometimes definitively, with a view to completing the story they wish to tell.

BRAFA and the King Baudouin Foundation would like to express their grateful thanks to the collectors who have agreed to participate in this project. Belgium is often described as a country of collectors and it is hoped that the presentation created by the King Baudouin Foundation at BRAFA will offer visitors to the fair a moment of special pleasure and perhaps also the inspiration to start their own collection.

The 'Singular Collections' of the Royal Museum for Central Africa at BRAFA
The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) is this year's guest of honour at the Brafa. The museum is very grateful for this privilege and is delighted to present several ‘Remarkable Collections’ that have been chosen for the event.

The RMCA is one of the most fascinating institutions devoted to Africa. The museum is housed in a colonial building, now a protected heritage site, where it exhibits unique collections dedicated to the natural and social sciences. The RMCA is also a research institute that carries out numerous scientific projects across Africa.

On 1 December 2013, the museum will close its doors to allow for extensive renovation works that will last about three years. The building dates back to 1910 and still exudes a very particular charm, but the permanent exhibition and the infrastructure need to be adapted to meet the needs and requirements of a modern museum. The biggest challenge is to turn the RMCA into an international, appealing, dynamic institution that reflects the Africa of today while retaining a sense of the building’s past, with the collections acting as bridges between the museum and the public.

The Royal Museum for Central Africa is thrilled to offer Brafa visitors this special encounter with its collections, some of which were instrumental in forging the museum's reputation, while others – no less famous – helped develop images and representations of Africa. A selection of themes directed the choice of collections. The chosen pieces are not necessarily the most famous, but each object or specimen is striking not only for its aesthetic qualities but also for its singularity, its rarity and, of course, its history.

Guido Gryseels
General Director

Royal Opera House De Munt
La Monnaie is delighted to be the guest of honour at Brafa 2013. It is a sterling opportunity to show yet again the extent to which opera is an art form open to all and a direct link to the world.

In 2013, the “Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie” will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its current form as the National Opera of Belgium. Known today under the name of La Monnaie/De Munt, our institution is a sign of federal Belgium: it is also the opera house of Brussels, the capital of Europe. It has moreover established itself as a major stage in the international opera circuit, as its productions usually elicit accolades in the specialised press. It is therefore an ideal cultural showcase and an ambassador of our country in Europe, as attested by the title “Opera House of the Year” conferred in 2011-2012.

It therefore made sense for Brafa and La Monnaie to join forces: these two institutions are keen on and explicitly geared to promoting, preserving and presenting works of art to the public by insisting on the importance of the creation and the beauty of the works.

A spearhead of tradition and innovation, of quality and expertise, La Monnaie is teeming with activities with nearly 400 permanent employees and many guest artists (conductors, singers, directors, set designers) who are working tirelessly to rediscover the opera repertoire and to stage an audacious and committed interpretation for today’s public.

This public interested in both ancient and contemporary art is that encountered in large numbers at the Brafa; the quality and diversity of the offer are guaranteed as much at Brafa as at La Monnaie!

2013 will also be the year of three great opera composers: Benjamin Britten, born 100 years ago, and Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner born 200 years ago. La Monnaie, the symbol of opera par excellence in Belgium, is therefore very proud to be present at this edition of the Brafa.

On that occasion, you are cordially invited to discover, in the space reserved for La Monnaie, the chandalier of Charles Kaisin: his Pteron is a flight of some 2,000 origamis, gilded paper doves. This work of art, which draws inspiration from the large old chandelier hanging from the ceiling of La Monnaie, was made possible thanks to many hands in Saint Gilles Prison in Brussels, who folded these origamis. Whereas movement brings this impressive aerial installation to life, light turns it into an abstract, fragmented landscape that scintillates at the slightest breath of air. For Charles Kaisin, this Pteron is a symbol of freedom, peace and refinement.

The Pteron installation has been kindly made available by Mr and Mrs Amaury de Solages, of the Maison Particulière.

With the support of the Circle of Maecenas of La Monnaie:
Mr and Mrs Daniel Lebard
Mr Roberto Polo
Mr and Mrs Alain Mallart
Mr and Mrs Erol Kandiyoti
Mr and Mrs Hans C. Schwab
Mr and Mrs Gilles Silberman

La Monnaie moreover invites you to guided tours of a “Monnaie promenade” at the Brafa site. General director Peter de Caluwe selected some ten works of the Brafa that echo the theme of the season: “Desire, Secret & Fragility” which tries to map through art, and opera in particular, human passions in all their multiplicity, complexity, contradictions, etc… all this confusion of feelings that we discover in ourselves and in others, which forces us to question our identity. A guide will be at your disposal every day at the stand of La Monnaie as of 2pm to accompany you through this tour through emotions…

Finally, La Monnaie has the pleasure of welcoming you in its premises for a guided tour of the theatre and the workshops: you will discover, with your own eyes, the various trades that contribute to turn an opera score into a total artwork. Guided tours are scheduled every day at 5pm at La Monnaie during the Brafa.

That said, the experience of opera on stage supersedes all else. La Monnaie has consequently conceived an exceptional cooperation with the Brafa; visitors to the fair will be eligible for an exceptional ticket price for the production of Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini (24 January to 8 February). They will moreover be able to take out mid-season tickets known as “La Monnaie as a gift” comprising four shows: two operas (either La Dispute and Così fan Tutte; or Lucrezia Borgia and Pelléas et Mélisande), the opera Roméo et Juliette in concert form, and a concert or a recital of their choice.

The Brafa and La Monnaie wish you a highly artistic 2013!

The King Baudouin Foundation: serving Belgium's heritage for 25 years
This year, the King Baudouin Foundation's Heritage Fund is celebrating its 25th anniversary in style as guest of honour at the 2012 BRAFA! The Fund is taking advantage of this special occasion to exhibit the centrepieces of its collection together. These pieces represent only a part of the collection but they reflect perfectly the quality and diversity which constitute its wealth.

Over the years and thanks to numerous donations, the Fund has been able to build up a collection of great value comprising some 7,000 works of art and 6 archives. Among others, the collection comprises works including furniture designed by Victor Horta, Gustave Serrurier-Bovy and Jacques Dupuis; the drawings of Lambert Lombard and Christian Dotremont; paintings by de Jacob Jordaens, James Ensor, Félicien Rops, Louis Van Lint, Bram van Velde and Fernand Khnopff; jewellery by Philippe Wolfers and Henry van de Velde and sculptures by Artus Quelinus and Michiel van der Voort. All of these works of art have been entrusted to 20 public institutions across the country rendering them accessible to everyone.

Since its creation 25 years ago, the Heritage Fund has gradually become one of the foremost players in heritage. In addition to its role in conservation and making works accessible to the public, the Fund is increasingly consulted as an intermediary to facilitate initiatives to safeguard our heritage. Together with the King Baudouin Foundation's Centre for Philanthropy, the Fund works with sponsors wishing to invest in the field of heritage and develop flexible and sustainable solutions.

Celebrating 25 years of service to our heritage is thus an occasion dear to our hearts. Our grateful thanks go to the organisers of the antique dealers' fair and to all of those who support us in our passion for heritage.

One man's amazing collection
The Museum Mayer van den Bergh in Antwerp is dedicated to the marvellous art collection that Fritz Mayer van den Bergh (1858-1901) accumulated. The collection, housed in a neo-gothic house from the early 1900s, comprises more than 3000 art objects: valuable paintings – including the well-known Mad Meg by Pieter Bruegel the Elder – fabulous medieval sculptures, delicate ivory carvings, illuminated manuscripts – such as the exceptional Mayer van den Bergh Breviary – as well as choice examples of applied art.

The museum opened its doors to the public in 1904, three years after the premature death of Fritz Mayer. It thanks its existence to the efforts of his mother Henriëtte van den Bergh. She commissioned the building of the house and donated it, together with the collection, to the regency council in 1906. Since 1956 Museum Mayer van den Bergh has been one of the Stedelijke Musea of Antwerp.

As guest of honour at BRAFA 2011, Museum Mayer van den Bergh will, as a rare exception, exhibit some twenty works of art outside of its own walls. The selection was made to reflect the rich variety of the collection. In addition to an intimately painted The Adoration of the Shepherds by Jacob Jordaens and an antiquities-styled Maria-Magdalena by Jan Gossaert, the life-size portraits of the Vekemans family are real eyecatchers, a unique series of five portraits of a wealthy Antwerp businessman, his wife and three of his four children. The series was painted around 1624 by famed portrait painter Cornelis de Vos. From the extensive collection of sculptures ranging from the twelfth to the eighteenth century, a fourteenth-century marble angel from a French atelier was chosen, two beautiful oak-wood angels from the entourage of Rogier van der Weyden and two adorable putti by eighteenth-century sculptor Walter Pompe.

The Museum of the City of Liège
In June 1939, the Third Reich put up for sale at the Galerie Fischer in Lucerne a set of 125 major works from the history of modern art which came from German public collections, on the grounds that these belonged to a degenerate form of art which was incompatible with Nazi ideology and aesthetics. Within a few weeks, many collectors and some towns had gathered together the funds needed to buy these masterpieces; these towns included Basle, Lintz, Harvard, Paris, and … Liège.

The City of Liège, armed with 1,000,000 Francs (of which only 100,000 were actually spent!) purchased nine unique paintings by Picasso, Chagall, Gauguin, Franz Marc, Oscar Kokoshka, Max Liebermann, Marie Laurencin, Jules Pascin, and Ensor. The City of Liège, whose museums and galleries are the guests of honour at BRAFA 2010, is making this a special occasion by presenting, for the first time, eight of the nine works purchased in Lucerne. It so happens that while the BRAFA is on, James Ensor's "Death and the Masks" is headlining the exhibition dedicated to this Ostend master at Orsay, so it cannot be displayed here.

A prestigious stand will be specially built for the occasion, under the expert sponsorship of Galère BAM, the main contractor for the work on the magnificent Grand Curtius, the flagship Liège museum which was opened in March 2009. This exceptional presence at the BRAFA of the Liège masterpieces from the Lucerne sale prefigures the major exhibition "Les Poubelles du Reich", which is to be held for the inauguration of the new Centre International d'Art et de Culture marking the transformation of the present Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain (MAMAC) in the Parc de la Boverie in Liège. This centre, which will put the Cité Ardente firmly on the major international exhibition circuit, will be the result of architectural design applied to the very fine present-day building, a relic of the 1905 universal exhibition, after major work carried out thanks to the European ERDF fund, which will be starting in 2014.

The aim sought by the management of the City of Liège museums in this initiative is to make the public, art lovers, collectors, conservators and sponsors aware of this ambitious, costly exhibition, the design of which is already under way.

LA VENTE DE LUCERNE ET LES ACHATS DE PARIS

Extrait tiré « Des Mécènes pour Liège » par Pierre Henrion, Liège, 1998.

Dès le début des années '30, les dirigeants du Parti nazi se montrent hostiles aux recherches des avant-gardistes artistiques. Quand, en 1933, Adolf Hitler est nommé chancelier, une véritable campagne de « désinformation » est mise sur pied afin de déprécier les créations dites « dégénérées ». C'est surtout l'expressionnisme qui est visé. Dans la seconde moitié de la décennie, une commission dirigée par Ziegler et patronnée par Goebbels est chargée de collecter dans les musées allemands les pièces qui ne correspondent pas à l'esthétique officielle du Parti. Plusieurs milliers d'œuvres sont détruites. D'autres sont cédées, comme les 114 pièces mises en vente à la Galerie Fischer de Lucerne en juin 1939.

Grâce à Jules Bosmant, Liège est représentée à la vente de Lucerne. La critique d'art parvient en effet à y intéresser l'échevin libéral Auguste Buisseret qui, quant à lui, convainc un groupe de mécènes de participer à l'opération. Ce groupe, constitué sous le nom d'Amis des Musées liégeois, est représenté par le baron Paul de Launoit, commissaire général du Gouvernement auprès de l'Exposition internationale de l'Eau, directeur à la banque de Bruxelles et de la Société Ougrée-Marihaye, et de Louis Lepage, directeur de l'Azote. Jean-Paul Depaire (Les achats de Lucerne, dans Le syndrome Picasso, Liège, 1990) retrace avec beaucoup de détails toutes les étapes de notre affaire.

Dans Souvenir d'un ancien Belge, Bosmant explique qu'en juin 1939, le Collège des Bourgmestre et Echevins de la Ville de Liège l'envoie à Lucerne afin, « par son intermédiaire, de délimiter autant que faire se pouvait, les secteurs d'intérêt de chacun, de modérer ainsi les enchères, et dès lors d'alimenter le moins possible, en devises étrangères, le trésor nazi, dont la proche utilisation faisait peu de doute ». Muni du rapport que Jules Bosmant tire de son expédition, Buisseret obtient de l'Etat une importance subvention.

Le Conseil communal approuve à l'unanimité l'engagement de la Ville. Cette dernière contribue pour 35% à l'achat des œuvres, l'Etat à hauteur de 30% ; les mécènes assument les 35% restants et avancent la totalité des sommes nécessaires.

La délégation liégeoise en Suisse est composée d'Auguste Buisseret, de Jacques Ochs, directeur de l'Académie et conservateur du Musée des Beaux-Arts, d'Olympe Gilbart, conseiller communal libéral et professeur d'histoire de l'art à l'Université, et d'Eugène Beaudouin, chef de division à l'administration communale et directeur du Service d'Aide aux Artistes. Ils sont accompagnés d'Emmanuel Fischer, directeur du Contentieux à l'Azote, représentant des mécènes et responsable des sommes avancées.

Neuf tableaux sont acquis pour 109 600 francs suisses auxquels s'ajoutent les 15% de frais prévus, ce qui donne 126 040 francs suisses, soit 834 952 francs belges. C'est l'achat le plus important jamais réalisé à Liège. Toutes les peintures sont des chefs-d'œuvre d'artistes à l'époque déjà célèbres et dont la notoriété ne s'est depuis ternie en aucune manière. Ce sont les fleurons du Musée d'Art moderne et d'Art contemporain : La famille Soler de Pablo Picasso, Le Sorcier d'Hiva-Oa de Paul Gauguin, Les masques et la mort de James Ensor, Monte-Carlo d'Oskar Kokoschka, La maison bleue de Marc Chagall, Portrait de jeune fille de Marie Laurencin, Le déjeuner de Jules Pascin, Le cavalier sur la plage de Max Liebermann et Les chevaux bleus de Franz Marc.

L'examen des budgets de la Ville de Liège entre 1939 et 1946 montre une dépense totale de 355 361,65 francs pour les « achats de Lucerne ». La même somme a été offerte par les « Amis des Musées liégeois ». Quant à l'Etat belge, il a versé un montant total de 310 460 francs. Cette distribution correspond à celle prévue à l'origine.

L'ensemble des apports s'élève donc à 1 021 183,30 francs soit 186 231 francs de plus que le coût des tableaux de Lucerne. Cette somme est en fait consacrée à des achats d'œuvres à Paris. Bien des marchands et collectionneurs y sont, à la fin des années '30, prêts à négocier à très bon prix. Le 1er août 1939, Ochs, Buisseret et Gilbart sont dans la capitale française et, le 11 août, La Meuse annonce l'achat de neuf tableaux. Il s'agit de Fleurs de Maurice Vlaminck, Le moulin de la Galette de Maurice Utrillo, Ecluse du moulin de Bouchardon d'Armand Guillaumin, Château de Comblaz de Paul Signac, Projet de vitrail de Marcel Gromaire, Violoniste de Kees Van Dongen, Coquillages de James Ensor, Nu d'Alexandre Picart Ledoux et Port d'Anvers 1906 d'Othon Friese.

Gerald Watelet

This pair of magnificent tapestries depicting the story of Alexander the Great belongs to the Princes Doria Pamphilj Collection in the Palazzo del Principe in Genoa. They are spectacular not only in terms of composition and design, but also in their technical aspect and colour palette. They are unquestionably among the finest examples of 15th century tapestries to survive.

The first tapestry illustrates the adolescence of Alexander, when he tames his stallion Bucephalus and wins his first military victories. This episode culminates with the crowning of Alexander by his dying father. Alexander's further illustrious deeds unfold on the second work, where Alexander conquers an oriental city with his troops. His later adventures are even more extraordinary: he explores the skies in a cage, drawn by griffons, then subsequently descends to the ocean's depths in a glass vessel, and finally journeys to the end of the world, inhabited by wild men and dragons. Alexander's rich costumes and weaponry are intended to evoke the splendour and refined civilisation of the Burgundian period in contrast with the more coarse portrayal of the oriental characters, depicted as barbarians with their long beards. The present pair of tapestries was probably produced in the Tournai workshops of Pasquier Grenier around 1460, during the golden age of the tapestry industry in this city. Archival documents indicate that Pasquier Grenier supplied several tapestry sets of the Legend of Alexander, not only to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, but also to Italian Princes.

These two tapestries form a monumental complete set of almost 20 m long and most likely belonged to Admiral Andrea Doria, who led Charles V's fleet in his ongoing battle with the Turks for supremacy in the Mediterranean.

Both hangings were in very poor condition and were difficult to read. The Royal Manufacturers De Wit in Mechelen have successfully managed to restore these hangings, thanks to the generous support of the Foire des Antiquaires de Belgique. A subtle aerosol cleaning and overall stabilisation of the threads have returned both tapestries to their former splendour.

Anna Rapp Buri and Monica Stucky-Schürer Authors of "Burgundische Tapisserien", Hirmer Verlag München, 2001, a reference work on 15th century tapestries, and of the exhibition catalogue.