The BRAFA | Brussels Art and Antique Fair 2015 | Belgian Antiques Fair

 

The BRAFA 2015 in Brussels

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The BRAFA 

Art and Antiques Fair in Brussels

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BRAFA 2015

In this blog item we visit the BRAFA 2015 in Brussels (Belgium), over the years Brafa has come to be recognized as one of European leading art and antiques fairs.

It is for the ornamental Woodcarver of great importance to have a lot of documentation, drawings and pictures , this source of inspiration can be consulted later by a possible restoration or reconstruction of ornaments.

In the creation and drawing of new ornaments and compositions  a comprehensive library of books and pictures is really necessary, this information gives the ornamental Woodcarver a greater freedom in drawing and design.  A lot of  information (pictures) also contributes to the ornamental carver  a better understanding  of  the forms and characters that can be consult. And this together with a large amount of plaster casts and wooden examples you're already well on your way.

BRAFA BRussels Art and Antiques Fair 2015

At BRAFA, all art works on show are for sale and quality and authenticity are two of the key requirements exhibitors face. Brafa is an eclectic fair which encompasses a variety of specialities, from antiquity to the 21st century, including archaeology, Oceanic art, African art, Oriental art, silver, jewellery, numismatic, furniture and works of art from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, vintage collections, old master and modern paintings, contemporary art, sculpture, earthenware and porcelain, carpets, tapestry, drawings, old comic books, engravings, antique and modern books, photography and autographs.

History
BRAFA, or the Brussels Art Fair, is one of the longest running art and antiques fairs in the world and is organized every year by the nonprofit Belgian Antiques Fair Association. The first ever BRAFA was held in the Arlequin Hall of the Galerie Louiza in 1956. Charles Van Hove and Mamy Wouters, the long standing President and Vice-President of the Belgian Chamber of Antiques Dealers, were behind the initiative to set up the salon. This first Belgian Antiques Fair or ‘Foire des Antiquaires de Belgique’, as it was known then, followed in the footsteps of the fairs already held at Grosvenor House in London and at the Prinsenhof in Delft, but preceded those set up in Paris, Florence and Munich.

The growing success of the fair and the increasing number of participants meant that a location had to be found capable of keeping up with the event’s development. The range of art objects on display also continued to expand. From 1967 to 2003, the fair was held in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Up until 1994, only Belgian antiques dealers who were members of the Royal Chamber of Antique Dealers could take part in the fair which was, at the time, a purely national event. The number of participants fluctuated between forty and fifty.

The first major change occurred in 1995 when Christian de Bruyn opened the fair to foreign antique dealers for the first time. The Belgian antique dealers saw this as a revolutionary step and they were right; in no time the fair had outgrown the Palais des Beaux-Arts and a new, much bigger location had to be found. In 2004 the Belgian Antiques Fair therefore moved to Tour & Taxis, a gem of Belgian industrial architectural heritage situated in the north of Brussels, next to the Willebroek canal. Now that exhibition space was no longer restricted, the BRAFA actively sought to increase the number of participants. Having started with no more than twenty Belgian antique dealers it grew to incorporate about one hundred and thirty exhibitors from both Belgium and abroad in the space of a few years. The fair is now recognized worldwide as one of the leading international fairs in Europe.

The organizers of the fair have always worked hard to improve the quality of the participants each year, while striving to retain the event’s individual character and its reputation for eclecticism and friendliness. As well as becoming increasingly international, the fair has also embraced growing numbers of exhibitors of modern and contemporary art. In 2009, the name ‘Belgian Antiques Fair’ or ‘Foire des Antiquaires de Belgique’ was no longer felt to reflect the scale and range of the fair, which was renamed BRAFA: the Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts Fair. On 30 September 2009, the fair was placed under the High Protection of Her Majesty Queen Paola. Following a complete remodelling of the event in 2014, BRAFA is now synonymous with the title Brussels Art Fair.


The 130 participants represent different countries such as Belgium (40%), Canada, France, Germany, Great-Britain, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, USA and Switzerland. A balanced number which the organisation doesn’t want to increase in spite of the international reputation of the fair.
From Saturday 24 January to Sunday 1 February 2015, daily from 11 am to 7 pm
Late opening on Thursday 29 January 2015 until 10 pm

 

Entrance fee Individual: 20 €  Catalogue: 10 €

website:  http://www.brafa.be
TEXT, BRAFA

Here following are some impressions, beautiful ornaments, works of art I've photographed at BRAFA 2015.
Maybe also for you a source of inspiration.

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An impression of BRAFA 2015

The BRAFA 2015, 3 console tables, French, Louis XVI style

Carved in marble, French

An impression of BRAFA 2015, one of my favorite exhibitors

Console table, french 18th century

An impression of BRAFA 2015

Contact

Foire des Antiquaires de Belgique asbl
Tour & Taxis
Avenue du Port 86 C Box 2A / B-1000 Brussels
t. +32 (0)2 513 48 31 - f. +32 (0)2 502 06 86

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info

JEAN DÉMONTREUIL | French woodcarver | 18th century style wood carving | Aubert Parent Style of Carving

The Historisches Musem in Basel

Jean Démontreuil




I would like to offer you the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of Jean Démontreuil, a French woodcarver who practised his trade in the same period as his compatriot Aubert-Henri-Joseph Parent.  (18th century style of carving)
Both woodcarvers had something in common, that is to say both of them were specialized in very subtle carving and both men shared a passion for birds.

We’ve already discussed Aubert Parent in my Dutch Woodcarving blog (Ornamentsnijder), referring to 5 magnificent pieces of his, which are on display at the “Historisches Museum” in Basel. 
This Museum is also in the possession of two pieces of Jean Démontreuil, who has remained a fairly unrecognized woodcarver, but undeservedly so. 

That is why I want to take this opportunity to show you some of his sublime work. The full-scale carving was presumably executed in limewood and represents a dead bird, “Le Serin” (European canary) and “L'hirondelle” (swallow) both dated and signed 1796. The two small panels in the Historisches Museum basel are two different bequests/legacies from families from Basel and became this way a part of the regular collection.

It is only known that Daniel Burckhardt-Wildt, a rich and well known art collector from Basel bought the carving "serin mort" from a Mr. Dienast, who just came from Paris, on April 20th 1796. So the work came to Basel the same year it was carved.

Jean Démontreuil
  
Jean Démontreuil, a.k.a. Montreuil , born in Bordeaux, France. “Professeur à l'Académie de Bordeaux”. He exhibited his work at the “Salon de Paris” from 1791 till 1798 and must certainly have been familiar with the work of Aubert Parent, who also had various exhibits in Paris (1779 -1783). At the Louvre, it’s also possible to admire one of Démontreuil’s pieces.

On 27 June 2008, a piece of Jean Démontreuil was offered to auction house Delvaux in Paris. The object was described as finely carved and was dated and signed 1791.  

Jean Démontreuil, Swallow Carved in 1796

Jean Démontreuil, 'Le Serin Mort' (European canary)

             

The Historisches Museum Basel,
Switserland   
                                  
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https://www.patrickdamiaens.info