Belgium

One of the attractions of BRAFA, the Brussels art and antiques fair which is traditionally a new-year opener in continental Europe, is its breadth. This is not a specialist event: it concentrates on quality across a range of disciplines.

Among the numerous dealers at BRAFA showing early works of art is Brussels’ Gallery Desmet, which specialises in sculpture and objects ranging from Antiquity to the Grand Tour.

Whitford Fine Art from London is a long-standing BRAFA stalwart (understandably given that the gallery’s core stock is work by 20th century Belgian and international artists).

With so many tribal art galleries concentrated in Brussels it is no surprise to find 10 specialists in the field showing at BRAFA, six of them from the Belgian capital.

Another returning BRAFA exhibitor is the Paris dealer Xavier Eckhout, who specialises in animalier sculpture from 1880- 1950.

Finch & Co from London has been showing at BRAFA for 12 years. “We regard it as one of the most successful and well-organised art and antique events in Europe,” notes the firm’s Jan Finch.

BRAFA is a big draw for the visitor in late January but as well as enjoying all that Brussels has to offer in general cultural terms there are other art and antiques-related events on at the same time.

Legend has it that, while on safari in Africa with her lover and employer Louis Cartier, Jeanne Toussaint spotted a panther and immediately exclaimed: “Onyx, diamonds, emeralds – a brooch!” The Cartier range of feline jewels was born.

Tyr Baudouin Lowet de Wotrenge is gallery director at Galerie Lowet de Wotrenge. The Antwerp gallery is among those exhibiting during London Art Week (June 29-July 6) and will be at 37 Bury Street.

Tour & Taxis in Brussels is a vast swathe of Victorian industrial warehouses on the city’s canal. The complex includes the former train station and its spacious central hall, a long-disused international postal and customs office with links to the German Thurn and Taxis family.

Brussels gears up for its major art and antiques fair this month with the latest edition of BRAFA.

Antiquities is one of BRAFA’s strong suits in terms of exhibitor volume. Around 10 specialists in this field are standing, plus a number of others that mix antiquities with, for example, Asian art.

The picture dealer element of BRAFA is substantial, but increasingly these days the emphasis is on works from the 19th century onwards, be they Impressionist and modern or post-war and contemporary art.

BRAFA has long been a fair with a speciality in early (medieval and Renaissance) works of art, which is something that dates back to the years when it was a Belgian National fair in the city centre. It thus serves a venerable collecting tradition drawing in buyers from the local area and further afield.