Late January is also the time for Winter Bruneaf, a tribal art gathering of 19 dealers based largely in the network of streets in the Sablon district, running this year from January 23-27.
Participants include resident dealers in their own galleries and guests who rent space in the area, such as a group show featuring five dealers (two from Paris, two from Brussels and one from the US) staged at the Ancienne Noniciature building on the Rue des Sablons.
A must-see for ethnographic enthusiasts is the newly reopened African Museum in Tervuren near Brussels. An ambitious five-year restoration project has resulted in a transformation of the layout and presentation of Belgium’s ethnographic art collections.
January auctions
Brussels has its own contingent of auction houses which will be in action during January. They include Horta, holding a mixed-discipline, two-day auction on January 28-29 featuring plenty of Belgian art of all ages as well as furniture, ceramics, jewellery, silverware and carpets.
Among the works on offer will be this 6ft 6in (2m) high Black Forest coat stand, top, carved with two bears, estimated at €3000-4000.
During Winter Bruneaf, Native Auctions will be holding a 137-lot Tribal Art, Modern Art and Design sale on January 26.
This porcelain opium pipe dated to the late Qing dynasty is estimated at €1000-1500 in the Galerie Moderne January 31 auction.
Galerie Moderne is holding two auctions over the period: a mixed-discipline sale on January 29-30 and auction on January 31 devoted to Asian art.
Included in the latter is this 21in (53cm) long polchrome porcelain opium pipe, above, decorated with palace scenes separated by bands of auspicious symbols and with a bowl enamelled with a poem and decoration of ducks in the branches of a cherry tree. It is dated to the late Qing dynasty, with a provenance to a collection of Asian art belonging to a Brussels-based enthusiast (1920-84) and then by descent.
It has an estimate of €1000-1500.
