Preview
BRAFA Art Fair
23rd January - 1st February
Welcome to our Exclusive Preview!
With BRAFA 2026 approaching, I very much look forward to welcoming you soon on my stand.
In the meantime, I invite you to discover, as an advance Preview, a selection of ancient artworks from Africa, Oceania, and North America that I will be unveiling on this occasion.
I am eager to welcome you to our stand, and to share these new discoveries with you.
I remain at your disposal should you have any questions.
Julien Flak
BRAFA Art Fair
January 23 to February 1, 2026, at Brussels Expo, stand 103.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Singiti Commemorative portrait of a chief
Hemba
19th century or early 20th century
Carved wood
Height: 86.5 cm – 34 in.
Provenance
Collection Mia van Bussel, Amsterdam
Collection Kevin Conru, Brussels
Collection Adrian Schlag, Brussels
Collection Guilhem Montagut, Barcelona
Publication
“Lexikon der Afrikanischen Kunst”, Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler, Munich, 1994, page 242
Gabon
Mbulu-Ngulu Reliquary Guardian Figure
Kota Ndumu
19th century
Carved metal and wood
Height: 44 cm – 17 ¼ in.
Provenance
Collection Mr. Gabirault in the 1930s, France
Collection Alain Bovis, Paris
Exhibition & Publication
« Les Forêts natales, Arts d’Afrique équatoriale atlantique », Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, 2017, pl. 232
« Kota : Digital Excavations in African Art », Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St Louis, 2015
«New Light», Tribal Art, Hors Série n°5, p. 71, 2015
«Sculptures», Gallery Montagut, Barcelona, 2024
VIDEO
Ritual Masks from Gabon
Discoveries Series Ep.13
Arizona
Butterfly Maiden Katsina Doll
Pahlik Mana
Hopi
Arizona, USA
Circa 1900
Carved wood (cottonwood) and pigments
Height: 35.5 cm – 13 ¾ in.
Provenance
Collection Toby Herbst, Santa Fe
Publication
« Houses of the Holy – the Painted Caves of Shalmirane », T. Herbst, 2019
L’Appel des Kachinas – Katsina Calling
Edited by Julien Flak
Essays by Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, Marie Mauzé, Julien Flak & Barry Walsh
210 pages, texts in French and English
© Editions L’Enfance de l’Art, September 2024
ISBN : 2-912646-36-7
EAN 13 : 9782912646361
Papua New Guinea
Large Yipwon figure
Korewori, Middle Sepik
Papua New Guinea
19th century or earlier (C-14 Radiocarbon Test)
Carved wood
Height: 200 cm – 78 ¾ in.
Provenance
Merrin Gallery, New York
Collection Tony Berlant (California artist), acquired above in the 1980s
Collection Michael Hamson, USA
Collection Dr. Jean-Philippe Beaulieu, France, acquired from the above in 2022
VIDEO
Ancestor Figures in Papua New Guinea
Discoveries Series Ep.14
New Zealand
Mere Pounamu / Patu War Club
Maori
18th century or earlier
Carved Greestone (pounamu nephrite)
Height: 37.5 cm – 14 ¾ in.
Provenance
Christie’s London, 6 Dec. 1995, lot 6
Collection Mark & Carolyn Blackburn, Honolulu, Hawai’i
Bonhams Los Angeles, 2 July 2020, lot 28
Collection Patrick Mestdagh, Brussels, Belgium
Private collection, Nice, France
Publication
« Polynesia, The Mark & Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art », A. Kaeppler, University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu 2010, fig. 492
« Casse Tête II », Galerie Meyer, Paris, Parcours des Mondes 2022, p. 240
