BRAFA 2026, the 71st Brussels Art Fair, brought together around 150 galleries from 18 countries, including 23 new and returning participants, offering a dynamic mix of tradition and contemporary practice. The King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) was the honorary guest, celebrating its 50th anniversary and presenting outstanding works of Belgian cultural heritage, including tapestries, paintings, jewellery and decorative arts.
The fair’s interior design, created by architect Nicolas de Liedekerke, was light and elegant — restaurants were gathered in a dedicated hall, the aisles between stands were made narrower, and suspended decorative elements “floated” above visitors, creating a sense of spaciousness. The 2026 scenography was inspired by the sky and its infinite shades — clouds, light, and sunny nuances, enhanced with surreal floral motifs, while the entrance was illuminated by the Northern Lights, instantly immersing guests in the atmosphere of a poetic art journey.
A new feature for 2026 was the midday musical interludes, underscoring the idea that music is an integral part of the visual arts. After all, it was once upon hearing Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin that Kandinsky saw colour harmonies and became a painter.
So, in 2026 the honorary guest of BRAFA is the King Baudouin Foundation. I have been receiving its newsletter for more than ten years and can swear on the Bible that the Foundation does tremendous work in Belgium’s cultural life and in an international context. Its presence at Belgium’s leading art fair is a chance to learn more about what this important cultural institution actually does. It may well encourage artists and patrons alike to collaborate with the Foundation.
Right at the entrance to the Foundation’s stand, no. 151, Royal Horses of the Laurier Canal (1993) by the Belgian artist Urbain Mulkers seem to offer a gentle hint: royal horses are meant to be harnessed — in other words, set in motion, put to use.
The King Baudouin Foundation was established to mark the 25th anniversary of the reign of the King of the Belgians — with the fairy-tale name Baudouin, so resonant to our ears — during his lifetime. The idea was not to celebrate the milestone with lavish festivities, but with a “gift to society” that would work for the long term. It is typical of the democratic Belgian Royal House. Thus was born an independent public foundation that operates in the interests of the common good. It should be noted that the royal family does not manage its day-to-day activities and it is politically independent.
When speaking about the Foundation, the word philanthropy inevitably comes up. At a press conference, Mélanie Coisne — Head of the Heritage & Culture programme — spoke about engaging younger philanthropists (50–60 years old) and their financial support for emerging artists, curators and recent graduates from Belgian art schools (20–35 years old) at a time when culture is under material strain.
Each year the King Baudouin Foundation purchases artworks to the value of around €1 million, and its collection now comprises about 28,000 items. The Foundation has no museum space of its own, so BRAFA is an ideal art platform for exhibition, especially of recent acquisitions. Its stand is magnificent: the curators have made every effort to present a “pair for every creature,” drawing from different eras and genres of art.
My coup de cœur was a rare late-Gothic wooden sculpture/emblem created in a Bruges workshop around c. 1529, titled The Holy Blood Ensign. It is part of a wooden processional banner used in religious processions, especially during the “Feast of the Holy Blood,” the traditional annual Bruges parade. Originally the entire object was polychromed, but only the sculptural portion survives today.
On its carved scene an important historical and religious event is depicted: the Patriarch of Jerusalem presenting the relic of the Holy Blood to Count Thierry of Alsace after the Second Crusade.
In 2026, BRAFA brought together an exceptional line-up of experts for its art talks. At the King Baudouin Foundation stand (no. 151), daily lecture series and discussions were held for a broad audience. The KBF Art Talks began at 2 p.m. with curator-led presentations on significant works from the King Baudouin Foundation collection and their historical context. At 4 p.m., the BRAFA Art Talks followed, featuring leading figures from the art world — museum curators, art market specialists and collectors.
On 25 January at BRAFA 2026, I too attended an Art Talk entitled Unicorn: The Mythical Beast in Art, which fully immersed the audience in the world of unicorns. Dr Michael Philipp, Chief Curator of the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, spoke enthusiastically about how this fantastic creature has appeared in art history, science and even in pharmacies. He quite literally pleaded with museums and private collections for rare depictions of unicorns in order to show them in an exhibition at his museum, allowing visitors to see portraits, tapestries and illustrations featuring the white, horned horse.
Together with the curator, we travelled through time — from India to China, via Persia and Egypt, and finally to Europe, where the unicorn became a symbol of Christ, an emblem of chastity and a miraculous remedy in apothecaries. Particularly amusing was the fact that in the Middle Ages no one doubted its existence, and the “wondrous horn” was displayed in churches as proof of its reality. Unicorns were even included in scholarly atlases of flora and fauna. Dr Philipp spoke with such passion that we, too, began to believe in the existence of unicorns depicted in paintings by Titian, in portraits by Dario di Giovanni, and in illuminated manuscripts.
By the end of the lecture, the audience left with the feeling that unicorns are everywhere — in pop culture, advertising, children’s bedrooms and, above all, in the imagination of each of us. The talk left a gentle sense of magic and a reminder of how art can bring myths to life — and how a devoted art historian can turn museum storerooms and private collections upside down in the service of an idea. For those of us living in Belgium, René Magritte’s The Meteor (1964), with its unicorn set against a landscape, held particular resonance. This curious creature recalls the post-ironic spirit so beloved in Belgian Surrealist art.
At BRAFA, Michaelina Wautier’s Diogenes Reading at the Colnaghi gallery made a powerful statement in favour of revisiting art history through a feminist lens. The 17th-century artist, who for decades remained in the shadow of male names and auction attributions, finally emerged as a fully recognised figure in the artistic process of her time. Her Diogenes is far from the dramatic gestures of Caravaggesque theatre, despite the remarkable lighting and attention to physiognomy. It is a concentrated, intellectual scene of inward searching: the philosopher reads, his lantern behind him extinguished, as if truth has already been found not in the external world but in reflection.
This rejection of spectacle in favour of thought resonates unexpectedly with Wautier’s own fate — a woman whose authorship was suppressed for centuries, attributed alternately to French, Italian artists, or her brother Charles. The appearance of the painting at a Old Masters fair became a symbolic act of justice: an artist of broad vision, subtle psychology, and assured painterly culture finally receiving recognition. Within the context of BRAFA, Diogenes Reading becomes a metaphor for art history itself, where the “honest person” — or, in this case, the honestly acknowledged artist — had to be sought for centuries.
In just 10 days, BRAFA gave us so many emotions, impressions, insights, and photographs of masterpieces that we’ll have enough to study, explore, and truly experience “Art” — with a capital “A” — for an entire year!