BRAFA ART Talks

By Dr. Micha Leeflang, Museum Curator at Catharijneconvent, Utrecht

In this BRAFA Art Talk, Micha Leeflang discusses the preparations for the exhibition entitled From Antwerp to Amsterdam, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century painting, which will be presented at the Catharijneconvent Museum in Utrecht from May 11th to September 17th, 2023. In the sixteenth century, Antwerp was the most important commercial metropolis in Western Europe, the setting for a flourishing art market. Political and religious unrest led artists and dealers to migrate to the north, especially to Dutch cities such as Amsterdam, Leiden, Haarlem, Rotterdam, Delft, Middelburg, The Hague and Enkhuizen. This migration gave rise to unprecedented economic prosperity and artistic competition in the city on the Amstel River. In other words, without Antwerp in the sixteenth century, there would have been no blossoming of Dutch painting in the seventeenth century.

Since 2018, BRAFA has been supporting CODART, the international network of museum curators, Dutch and Flemish art around the world. Micha Leeflang has been a member of CODART since 2007 and a member of the Programme Committee since 2020.

In partnerschip with CODART

Talk given in: English
Join us at 4pm at the stand King Baudouin Foundation n°115

By Arne Quinze, artist. Talk with Koen van den Broek, artist and Xavier Roland, the director of the Beaux-Arts Museum in Mons

Arne Quinze, BRAFA’s 2022 guest of honour, is a Belgian contemporary artist, painter and sculptor. His work ranges from small drawings, paintings, and medium-sized sculptures to large scale installations. During this talk, Arne Quinze will be interacting with his friend fellow artist Koen van den Broek and Xavier Roland, the director of the Beaux-Arts Museum in Mons. Together they will discuss Arne Quinze's impressive body of work and the colourful path he has taken around the world. The talk will be followed by a signing session of his latest book.

Talk given in: Dutch & French
Join us at 4pm at the stand King Baudouin Foundation n°115

Arne Quinze / Koen van den Broek / Xavier Roland

By Dr. Luc Limme, Director of the Queen Elisabeth Egyptological Society.

Two hundred years of Egyptology (1822-2022). A retrospective of the Belgian contribution to the study of Ancient Egyptian culture.
Egyptology owes its origins to Jean-François Champollion’s deciphering of hieroglyphic writing in 1822. In the first decades following this important discovery, there was a strong interest in ancient Egyptian culture in Belgium, but it was not until Jean Capart (1877-1947), rightly considered to be the founder of Belgian Egyptology, that a real breakthrough took place in scientific research. Under his leadership and by means of the studies by generations of Egyptologists after him, our country has acquired a solid international reputation in this field.

Talk given in: Dutch
Join us at 4pm at the stand King Baudouin Foundation n°115

Panel discussion chaired by Hubert d’Ursel, Director Benelux, The Fine Art Group. With the participation of Rodolphe Janssen (Owner, Rodolphe Janssen Gallery), Morgan Long (Managing Director, The Fine Art Group, London), Benedicte Goesaert (Art liaison, Curator, Philippe Van Snick Estate) and Frédéric de Goldschmidt (Collector, founder of Cloud Seven)

Contemporary galleries are now well-established at Brafa. The Fair offers a privileged moment to talk about how to collect contemporary art. Four renowned specialists will share their experience and advice for starting a collection of Contemporary art and discuss the ways in which it has evolved over the last 20 years to become a leading field for collectors.

Talk given in: English
Join us at 4pm at the stand King Baudouin Foundation n°115

Hubert d’Ursel © David Plas  /  Rodolphe Janssen  /  Morgan Long  /  Benedicte Goesaert  /  Frédéric de Goldschmidt © David de Vleeschauwer

By Pauline Prévost-Marcilhacy (PhD in art history, lecturer at the University of Lille and specialist in the collections of the Rothschild family) and Fanny Moens (curator of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Liège), curators of the exhibition Collectionneuses Rothschild. Mécènes et donatrices d’exception

On the occasion of the exhibition organised at the La Boverie Museum in Liège from October 21st 2022 to March 26th 2023, in collaboration with the Louvre Museum, two of the three curators will present some of the great female personalities of the French branch of the Rothschild family. Often overlooked by the history of art, these women were collectors, builders, patrons and heiresses, who contributed significantly to the enrichment of the historical heritage and collections of French museums by means of their considerable gifts and legacies.

Their collections include artworks from all eras and all horizons: great artists, such as Fragonard, Chardin, Delacroix, Cézanne, Claudel, Rodin, Egon Schiele, but also medieval manuscripts, paintings from the Italian Renaissance, collections of jewellery and porcelain, and objects of African and Far Eastern art. These are works of art that bear witness to the history of taste and collecting over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Talk given in: French
Join us at 4pm at the stand King Baudouin Foundation n°115

By Dr. Herwig Todts, senior curator “Ensor en de modernen”, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp

In 2011, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp closed its doors for the largest renovation project in its history. Alongside the historic rooms, that will be restored to their former grandeur, new white volumes will also be erected inside the existing building. The new structure designed around the new and historic rooms offers an interesting contrast which reveals two worlds in a single space. The Museum extends this contrast in the new presentation of its collection, to be discovered during its reopening. The Museum has opted for a dynamic and thematic layout. Dr. Herwig Todts explains how the Museum arrived at this choice of presentation.

Talk given in: Dutch
Join us at 4pm at the stand King Baudouin Foundation n°115

Round table composed by Eeckman Art & Insurance. Panel discussion with art market specialists led by Corinne Boulangier (Corporate Innovation Manager at RTBF). With the participation of Nicolas Lemmens (Director, Nicolas Lemmens Studio), Edward Mitterrand (Art Advisor, Cramer Mitterrand Art Advisory), Jérôme Merz (General Manager, Art Shippers), Michel Draguet (Director, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium) and Eric Hemeleers (Chief Executive Officer at Eeckman Art & Insurance).

The lending of works of art by individuals to institutions, or even between institutions, plays an essential role. It must be recognised that lending one’s artworks can be a source of concern and questioning for the collector. On the one hand, the artwork literally enters a circuit which the owner no longer controls and on the other hand, significant trust is invested in the borrower, in a context which is often marked by strong emotions. Each of the stakeholders has a role to play to ensure that everything goes smoothly from the moment that the work is loaned… During this panel discussion, you will be presented with the different steps and points of vigilance to take into account so that both lender and borrower can interact and commit with confidence.

In partnerschip with Eeckman Art & Insurance

Talk given in: French
Join us at 4pm at the stand King Baudouin Foundation n°115