BRAFA 2024 – The Hundredth Anniversary Of The Birth Of Surrealism
This year I had the honour of being invited to Brussels for the 69th annual BRAFA Art Fair 2024. One of the most prestigious and long running art fairs in Europe.
This year BRAFA 2024 featured 132 galleries from 14 countries (Including our own Cortesi Gallery) offering a range of specialities from Antiquity to contemporary art.
Each year the art fair chooses to highlight a theme, gallery or artist. This time the spotlight fell on the Paul Delvaux Foundation, to mark the 30th anniversary of the great Surrealist painter’s death. A dedicated space was present as an overview of the artist’s career. 2024 marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Surrealism, since it was in 1924 that André Breton published the Manifesto of Surrealism.
A dedicated exhibition space brings together a group of works from the Paul Delvaux Museum in Saint-Idesbald, which holds the world’s largest collection of the artist’s work, enabling us to retrace his entire career. From the 1920s to the end of the 1960s, these works, which are not for sale, will illustrate his importance in twentieth-century art.
2024 also marks the return of our various tours and conference programmes, consolidating the presence at Brussels Expo in a magical, Surrealist setting. This strong focus on community is what sets BRAFA apart from other art fairs. The events are well organised and the venues are always well decorated making the visitors of all walks of life feel welcome. Is very common to see an entire family enjoying the fair rather than just art enthusiasts. In general I have found Belgians to have a very developed understanding and appreciation for art.
Many galleries hosted VIP dinners right by their pavilions. The general splendor of the event has cemented it as one of my favorite art fairs of the year and comes with a very big recommendation. I’d love to share some of my favorite moments from my time at BRAFA 2024:
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