Brussels, 7 January 2013
The 58th Brussels Antiques and Fine Arts Fair will take place from 19 to 27 January 2013 in Brussels.
128 exhibitors, from twelve countries, will represent about twenty specialties. Among the 128 participating galleries, 16 will come for the first time, and eleven come back after a one or several years absence. Belgium will present 53 galleries – 42% of the exhibitors – against 75 foreign galleries – 58% – with a stabilised proportion.
Almost all fields of art collections will be present: from classical or pre columbian archaeology to contemporary art, through ancient or modern painting, furniture, sculpture, decorative arts of the 20th century, silver, ancient jewellery, carpets and tapestry, ancient and modern books, comics, curiosities and primitive arts – for which Brussels remains a key spot on the international scale.
Among the exhibitors, nine are in the tribal arts field as Didier Claes, Jacques Germain, Pierre Dartevelle, Alain de Monbrison, Adrian Schlag, Galerie 1492 and Serge Schoffel.
For ten years now the BRAFA has been held in Tour&Taxis, within an over 14,000-sqm space. The 2012 edition had attracted the record number of 46,000 visitors. This year, the fair welcomes as a guest of honour the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie.
The key piece of the sale was a Guanyin wood sculpture originated from Northern China, dated from the 13th century. Being purchased for €9,025,000, it was the best hammer price for an Asian art piece sold in France in 2012. While the sculpture was previously estimated between €200,000 and €300,000, its final price rose to thirty times more. We can as well mention the sale of two Hu porcelain vases enamelled with bronze imitation from the Qing dynasty. Marked with the seal of Emperor Qianlong, these vases reached far beyond their previous estimations (€100,000 to €150,000) and fetched €1,073,000. A jade goblet with Mongol style engravings, dated from the Jichou year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign, seduced the collectors as well and was purchased for €961,000, six times its highest estimate.
Considering the results, Christie’s stated “another great mobilisation of Asian collectors making 68% of all bidders along with European ones reaching 23%”. They were all seduced by the rare and high-quality pieces offered on sale.