Gallery Brachot has been pleased to provide its expertise and advice to its customers for over 100 years. The fourth generation of the family is dedicated to artists with which Gallery Brachot has worked for many years (Marcel Broodthaers, Roman Opalka, Paul Delvaux, Felix Labisse, and others). We specialise in the work of René Magritte, whom we have represented and defended for 50 years…

DISCOVER THE HISTORY

History

Everything starts in 1915 with Isy BRACHOT I when he founds a gallery and a magazine, l’Art belge. His son, Isy BRACHOT II, takes over and creates a new gallery, dedicated to modernism with Dali, Léger, Picasso, Ensor, the Laethem school Saint-Martin and many young Belgian talents such as Delmotte.

His son, Isy BRACHOT III, a young doctor in law develops together with his wife the gallery towards the surrealists, which forms the basis of the success of the gallery. Later on the gallery thrives with revealing flows as hyperrealism and artists like Beuys, Buren, Opalka, Panamarenko, Gina Pane, Rauschenberg and many others.

The Brachot gallery becomes internationally very famous with the opening of a Paris branch and by collaborating with the biggest galleries in the world (Leo Castelli in New York, Maeght in Paris, …)

Isidore Henri Brachot I (known as "Isy")

Born 24 February 1884 in Namur and deceased in his 77th year on 7 October 1960 in Ixelles. Publicist, illustrator, journalist, art critic, gallery owner, founder in 1919, and director, of the magazine L’Art Belge, Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, Chevalier de l’Ordre de Léopold and Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Couronne.

Isy Brachot I founded "Le Studio" gallery on Rue des Petits-Carmes in 1915. Soon afterwards, he opened the "Galerie des Artistes Français" in the Colonial passageway off Chaussée d'Ixelles, where he exhibited Le Sidaner, Monet, Albert Benard, Emile Blanche, René Menard, Jean Dratz, Jules Grün and Martin Bollé. He founded the magazine L’Art Belge in 1919 and promoted major names in Belgian painting in his two other galleries: "Galerie du Studio" in Brussels and "Galerie d’Art du Zoute", which opened in 1923. Among others, he exhibited the work of Firmin Baes, Domergue, Ensor, Paulus, Olef, Tytgat, the Courtens', Louis Clesse, De Saedeleer, Arthur Navez, Rassenfosse, Stevens, Van Landeghem, Valerius de Saedeleer, Camille Barthélemy and Félicien Rops. He founded "Le Salon d’Art Belge" in Paris in 1927 with the support of his international magazine L’Art Belge. He was awarded the Légion d’honneur by France in recognition of the high quality of his work. He opened his gallery in 1934, in the former Galerie Le Centaure, at 62 Avenue Louise in Brussels.

He dedicated a major edition of L'Art Belge to Queen Astrid on her death in 1935, then to the Royal Children and Queen Elizabeth, a major patron of the arts. He continued to organise exhibitions until 1954 when he suffered a stroke. The gallery at 62 Avenue Louise was closed.

He died in 1960.

Isidore Henri Brachot II (known as "Isy")

Born 7 April 1917 in Ixelles and deceased on 13 September 1967 in Ixelles in his 51st year. Expert appraiser for the courts. Member of the Chambre belge des Experts en œuvres d’art (Belgian Chamber of Experts in Works of Art), Art dealer, Director of the magazine L’Art Belge.

Isy Brachot II began his career with his father in publishing. He decided to go out on his own to publish fine art books. He published Fleurs du Mâle with "Les Amis de la Chanson Estudiantine" in 1948.

In January 1950, he published his first major book under the name Isy Brachot Fils. The work, Le Code Pénal, was illustrated by Jean Dratz with a preface by Albert Guislain. He continued to work as a publisher with great energy and passion, collaborating with major French publishers with which he co-published remarkable works. He opened a book store at 42 Rue Ernest Allard in the early 1950s. His father had to leave the location on Avenue Louise in 1954 due to a health problem and his son was unable to take over the lease. At that time, he opened a book store on Rue Lebeau (Sablon). He moved to the new Mont des Arts when it was inaugurated in 1958. An opportunity arose at the end of 1960 which enabled him to move to magnificent premises at 62A Avenue Louise, next door to no. 62, the former location of his father...who had just died in October of that year.

Isy Brachot took over from his father after his death and, the same year, the gallery moved next door to 62A Avenue Louise in Brussels. He carried on his father's business and developed it further with more modern paintings and an international reach, focusing primarily on figurative and surrealist works. He exhibited Ensor, Cocteau, Dali, Dufy, Picasso, Léger, Delmotte, Buffet, the School of Paris and the Laethem School…and he founded a high-quality art publishing house.

Isy Brachot II died in September 1967, leaving unfinished the exhibition which he had started planning with René Magritte a few months earlier. In 1965, his son Isy Brachot III, and his future wife Christine Duchiron, met with René and Georgette Magritte at 97 Avenue des Mimosas in Brussels. The meeting followed on a conversation Isy Brachot III had with his father during which he asked him why he didn't exhibit the works of René Magritte. His father answered that "I never had the opportunity to meet RM…" Isy Brachot III (so-called and designated by E.L.T. Mesens from that time on) eventually organised a major exhibition with his wife Christine Brachot, with support from Georgette Magritte and from all of the Surrealists and Magritte’s friends, in particular Louis and Irène Scutenaire. The exhibition paying homage to Magritte opened on 18 January 1968 with 180 paintings and the world première of his sculptures.

He decided to contact the artist. Their first meeting was very positive and Magritte agreed to meet with Isy Brachot Snr. During the first meeting, Magritte explained that he didn't have any paintings available for an exhibition in Brussels (he was working with Alexandre Iolas in Paris and New York) and suggested to IB senior that, if he was truly interested in his work, he should buy on the secondary market. The latter followed the advice given by Magritte, who knew which works were available for sale by private collectors, and patiently bought paintings and a collection of sixteen of Magritte's watercolours with the latter's tacit approval. There were many meetings with IB Snr and his son in 1966. On 10 May 1967, during a meeting at Magritte's home, he approved the plan for an exhibition at the Isy Brachot Gallery on Avenue Louise in the fall of 1967. At the end of May, he brought a remarkable drawing to the B. gallery. It was intended for the cover of the special edition of L'Art Belge dedicated to RM and the upcoming exhibition. The Brachot family contacted Louis Scutenaire and E.L.T. Mesens, two of Magritte's main collectors, with his help and full support. They agreed to take part in the exhibition and lend works. René Magritte died on 15 August 1967. Isy Brachot Snr died on 13 September 1967.

ISY BRACHOT III

Isy Brachot III, aged 23 and a Doctor of Law, succeeded his father without hesitation. Thanks to his artistic background and legal training, he was able to expand on the work of his predecessors. He opened a second gallery in Knokke-le-Zoute, which was in operation from 1971 to 1979, a gallery in Paris (from 1978 to 1993 under the direction of Jacqueline Passever), a second gallery in Brussels in 1989 called "Galerie Christine et Isy Brachot", which is still open today, and a second gallery in Paris with the Neopolitan gallery of Lucio Amelio called "Galerie AmelioBrachot : Pièce Unique" which was open from 1989 to 1992. He also operated the "First View" space for previews in Brussels from 1991 to 1992, and from 1991 to 1993, and "La Galerie Christine et Isy Brachot" in Paris, dedicated to contemporary artists. With the help of the Surrealists, Isy Brachot became passionate about the work of RM and became a recognised expert. He organised over thirty Magritte exhibitions between 1968 and 1995. Isy Brachot is a specialist in surrealism and hyperrealism. He is assisted by his wife Christine in his search for living art. She is passionate about contemporary artists who have a reputation for being difficult. Christine is an art historian who started on the adventure by opening the "Section Deuxième Etage" gallery on Avenue Louise in 1975 with the exhibition "L’Art Corporel" featuring Gina Pane. She continued with galleries on Rue Villa Hermosa in 1989 and Rue Mazarine in Paris in 1991 to defend Roman Opalka and, most recently, Panamarenko. The couple has surrounded itself with a team which continues to work in the cultural field, including Michel Baudson, Alain Noirhomme, Bernard De Bluts, Bernard de Launoit, Natacha Van Deun, Jacques Bayle, Sophie Streefkerk, Olivier Vrankenne, Patrick Vanbellinghen and many others. From 1976 to 1992, Claude Duchiron took over daily management duties from his son-in-law and worked at the gallery where he developed strong bonds with a loyal clientele.

The Gallery takes part in many international art shows in cities including Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Cologne, Berlin, Basel, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Madrid, Tokyo, Brussels, Courtrai, Ghent and Paris. It invites foreign galleries such as Maeght (Paris), Pace (New York), Leo Castelli (New York) and Krugier (Geneva) to exhibit their artists, always with the goal of developing contacts with different countries to promote Belgian artists and make connections. In line with the family tradition, it has a policy of publishing meticulous catalogues for its exhibitions including Art and Language, Joseph Beuys, Guillaume Bijl, Marcel Broodthaers, Daniel Buren, Leo Copers, Stefan De Jaeger, Paul Delvaux, Michel Mouffe, Domenico Gnoli, Jasper Johns, Félix Labisse, Bernd Lohaus, Urs Lüthi, Mark Luyten, René Magritte, Marcel Mariën and E.L.T. Mesens, Panamarenko, Roman Opalka, Gina Pane, Robert Rauschenberg, Julian Schnabel, and others. In addition, the Gallery has published monographs on Marcel Delmotte, Vasilije Jordan, Joan Marti, Xio Xia and catalogues raisonnés of Félix Labisse and Panamarenko, the latter in association with Franck Van Haecke.

Isy Brachot founded Editions Brassa with Tom Gutt and has published the writings of Louis Scutenaire (Mes inscriptions ), Irène Hamoir, Marcel Mariën, Fernand Dumont, Tom Gutt and others. He also published Les Lettres de Magritte à Bosmans 1958-1967 with publisher Editions Seghers. In addition, Isy Brachot chaired the Union Professionnelle des Marchands d’Art Moderne et Contemporain for ten years. After acting as vice-chairman for over ten years, he was appointed chairman of the Chambre Belge des Experts en Œuvres d’Art, of which he is still a member, for one year. Jack Lang and Roland Dumas made him Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France in December 1985.

Isy Gabriel BRACHOT

Their son Isy Gabriel Brachot was born on 26 April 1979 and joined them in 2000. In 2004, he opened a contemporary art space called "Galerie Gabriel Brachot" in one of the liveliest districts of Brussels where he exhibits young contemporary artists including Alain Bornain, Guillaume Liffran, Berend Hoekstra, Hilarius Hofstede, Christian Denzler, Robert Quint, Cathy Coez, Dominique Rousserie, Paul Raguenes, Pierre Radisic and Sébastien Delire, selected by Harald Szeemann for his exhibition "Belgique Visionnaire" held at the Palais des Beaux-Arts for the 175 years of Belgian independence.

(Collective Opening Exhibition May 2004 – Solo Robert Quint Sept 2004 – Sébastien Delire Dec 2004 – Guillaume Liffran Feb 2005 – Berend Hoekstra April 2005 – Christian Denzler June 2005 – Hilarius Hofstede Sept 2005 – Sébastien Delire Oct 2005 – Alain Bornain Nov 2005 – Cathy Coez Dec 2005 – Dominique Rousserie March 2006. In 2006-2008, Isy Gabriel Brachot opened Espace Gabriel Brachot, 74 Avenue Louise, 1050 Brussels.

The "L’Amour de L’art" exhibition was held in November 2007 in honour of his father Isy Brachot III's 40 years in the profession. – "Le sens des Réalités" April 2008. From 2008-2010, Isy Gabriel Brachot acted as a consultant for the French company PROOFTAG to adapt a certification and authentication solution which cannot be duplicated for works of art.

The concept: The Art-TAG solution enables certification of the authenticity of works of art. It permanently connects a certificate of authenticity and the work it authenticates. Bubble Tags™ link the certificate with the work of art via Art-TAG software and an Internet site. In 2010, Art-TAG was approached by a well-known company which acquired the concept to create ARTtrust (online). Since 2010, Isy Gabriel Brachot, the manager of sprl Galerie Brachot, with head office located at 74, Avenue Louise, 1050 Brussels, has been a consultant in modern and contemporary art for artists with which Galerie Brachot has worked and which it has defended for many years. He specialises in Belgian surrealism with René Magritte, to whom he has dedicated himself exclusively, combining his extensive knowledge with his family's experience. His sister Isadora, an art historian, works alongside him.