Despite the fact that the Brussels stock exchange had its worst summer in its
twenty-year history (with the Bel20 plummeting nearly 12%) and that we have been
through a wet and grey summer, Art Nocturne Knocke did not allow itself to
become downcast.
In the space of one week, the 36th Art Nocturne Knocke
attracted more than 12,000 art and antiques lovers, eager to spend money. Never
before has an art fair in Europe attracted such a high average number of
visitors per exhibitor.Or so we heard from exhibitors’ enthusiastic reports. Here are some examples: Ming K’I sold its main showpiece, the exceptionally large horse from the Tang dynasty.
The Peter Pappot gallery which had a beautiful stand in the intimate hall of the new additional location at Hotel La Réserve saw its splendid Renoir change owners, sold its lovely Venus by Yves Klein and is still negotiating on other important works, including a Sluijters, Dufy and Théo van Rysselberghe.
It seems that more and more often, the sales of many important works are concluded just after a fair.That quality sells was also proven by Anto Prnic (Libertas), who succeeded in selling his finest works, time and again to private individuals, including a small still life by Henri de Braekeleer, that had also stolen the heart of the vetting committee, the landscape ‘Sunset in the Zwin’ by De Lamornière and a very beautiful work by Cesar De Cock. At the M&L Gallery, several works by the artist Lita Cabellut were sold, including the large portrait which hung in the foyer. In the meantime, we have learnt that she has recently been welcomed by the famous Opera Gallery.
The Gallerie Van Campen & Rochtus did very well with the wooden sculptures of Willy Verginer, as did LKFF Gallery, also with wooden sculptures by Isabelle Dethier.
The newcomer to the exhibition, the Gallerie Oudenhoven, had a lot of interest shown in its Russian art but also sold works by Karel Appel, Madeleine van der Knoop, Renso Tamse…
The d’Haudrecy art gallery of Knokke was not only enthusiastic about the interest shown but also about sales to new customers.Jan Muller again saw that people were most interested in his 19th century paintings. Of note was also the interest shown in design which is gaining ground year on year at this show and where this year, the Bronz interior shop presented a successful stand and acquired new Russian customers at the fair.
The stand right next to it, the Galerie Ridderplaat, did very well again in the Cobra period. Frans Jacobs, who, last year at Art Nocturne Knocke, sold an early Vincent Van Gogh, came along this year with a TEFAF class stand and drew great interest in masterpieces by artists such as Emil Nolde, Picasso and Mondrian.The jewellery was very popular as well.
Thus we saw, amongst other things, at Epoque Fine Jewels, exclusive post-1850 jewellery which they had also presented at top fairs in Maastricht or London.
English antiques likewise did very well, judging by, inter alia, Anthony Short Antiques and the silver at The Old Treasury. A successful stand as well was that of the Royal purveyor, chandelier designer Louis-Pierre Denil .The open air Sculpture Link Knokke, which ran in
parallel and was also organised by Tuteleers & Tuteleers also did very well. The sculptor Ronald Westerhuis told us enthusiastically that he had made salesof more than €750,000, plus some important commissions yet to come!
The ambitious expansion using Hotel ‘La Réserve’ and the unique formula of this evening fair clearly perfectly meets the wishes of the art and antique lovers.Both the young art lover and the seasoned collector were able to fully appreciate the style and quality of the fair. Also in terms of visitors, the fair is becoming ever more international. We see meanwhile that not only art lovers from Europe visit the fair; there were even Chinese businessmen setting up an art centre in Beijing who were on a shopping trip at Art Nocturne Knocke!
37th Art Nocturne Knocke from 11 – 19 August 2012.
artnocturneknocke.com
Posted on October 2, 2011 by Editors
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