The team at the helm of Antica Namur, is launching a new fair in Brussels, exclusively devoted to 20th-century art, to replace Eurantica, which has had its day.
One more event in the packed calendar of fairs this spring. It takes place in Brussels from May 11 to 15 at the Parc des expositions – which will also host the Brafa in June for the first time. However, it is not a new event added to the others since it replaces the Eurantica arts and antiques fair, which ended after thirty-eight editions. "We are keeping Antica Namur in November, which, even if it is very classic, remains appreciated by a certain clientele which still exists", announces Luc Darte, director of Twenty. He pursues: "With the pandemic, as everything was at a standstill, we had time to reflect and ask ourselves what we could do innovatively, to think outside the box. The idea of organizing a Salon dedicated to the 20th century was born: Art Nouveau, Art Deco, the 1950s, design, modern art, post-war art – bringing together furniture, painting, silverware, works of art, jewellery…
Isn't launching a new appointment in a busy calendar a cause for concern? "Certainly, the calendar is dense; however, there is room in Europe for a new specialized fair ," says Antonin Gatier (Galerie Zèbres, Paris)." Especially since this Fair highlights a period that appeals to an increasingly large audience and that this concept did not exist here, in Belgium ", adds the dealer Luc de Ruysscher.
The list of participants soon grew. "Twenty may be a first, but the team behind it has a long experience in the business, and that's what made us want to try the adventure with them," emphasizes Laura Capazza-Durand.
Target a younger and closer clientele
The organizers do not hide their desire to attract a younger clientele: "flashy" colors for communication, boost on social networks, and a more dynamic formula, five days of exhibitions against eleven in Namur. "The name Eurantica was a bit dusty; it didn't make young people want to come. There, it's much more modern", notes one of the exhibitors.
The Show also relies on proximity, addressing an audience within a radius of 300 kilometers (Belgium of course, France – as far as Paris –, southern Holland, western Germany, and Luxembourg)." We never pretended to say that we brought people from Brazil or South Africa, but I think that international visitors will tend to travel less and that it's more the fairs that will come to them. It is no coincidence that Art Basel comes to Paris", analyzes Luc Darte. The Fair, which brings together around sixty exhibitors, mainly includes Belgian (more than twenty), French, Dutch and German galleries, while Belgian art is particularly well represented there, with Brabant Fauvism or the Laethem-Saint-Martin school.
Decorative arts well represented.
At Claeys gallery, visitors can discover around thirty works by Émile Claus, Raymond Coninckx, and André Lanskoy (between €2,000 and €50,000), including a painting by Marthe Donas, Intuition n° 30 Bis(1958, see ill.). At the Baewards gallery selected a 1952 chair by Renaat Braem. Manufactured in only four copies, it is the last in private hands – the others being in museums. In 2020, the third chair was acquired by the King Baudouin Foundation at public auction for an amount of nearly 40,000 euros. At the Zèbres gallery, several pieces from the personal collection of artist Christian Astuguevieille are presented, like a dining room from his house-workshop in Bayonne – a unique model – featuring a chestnut and marble table , and a series of five wooden and straw chairs (around €18,000); while Patrick Martin shows off a Carlo Bugatti harness wrapped in parchment (€9,500). The Capazza gallery has reserved two stands facing each other, Les Grands Cabochons, a silver cup by goldsmith Goudji (€73,000) or a terracotta sculpture, Porteur (1996) by Georges Jeanclos (€46,000).
Twenty – 20th century Art Fair,
May 11-15, Palais 3, Brussels Expo, Place de Belgique, 1, 1020 Brussels, Belgium. www.twenty.brussels
seen in Le Journal des Arts, Marie Potard