Brafa, Belgium's premier art and antiques fair, has expanded for its 71st edition, now featuring 147 exhibitors across three halls in the Brussels Expo convention centre. Highlights include a newly rediscovered Peter Paul Rubens painting, *Portrait of an Old Man* (around 1609), priced at over €1 million, and a 50,000-year-old woolly mammoth head from Siberia that sold for €45,000. The fair runs from 25 February to 1 March, with a strong focus on painting from Old Masters to Modern art, and a notable presence of Belgian and early 20th-century French artists.
The fair's growth and early sales—such as a work by Enrico Castellani sold to a European museum for about €500,000—signal resilience in the art market amid broader uncertainty. Brafa's ability to attract new exhibitors, including Beck and Eggeling from Düsseldorf, and its strategic location for Flemish and French collectors, underscores its role as a key regional hub. The event's nine-day duration and social opening suggest a deliberate pace for converting interest into sales, reflecting evolving fair dynamics.