Last year was an inspirational year and certainly not boring. Many wonderful opportunities and new people have come my way that I cherish immensely. Not only have I experienced growth on a personal level, but also for Raechell, the webshop, my passion.
Winterswijk – Let me take you to a few moments of 2023, starting with the opening of the Art Gallery Art by Suus, by Suzanne Hengeveld. All her drawings and illustrations show different elements from nature. Suzanne I got to know through a friend of mine, Tamara. The opening was very successful and I immediately became friends with the Stafford Siep.
Brussels Art Fair – A few weeks later, I went to the most famous art fair in Belgium: the BRAFA Art Fair in Brussels. Wonderful was this fair; located in one of the halls of Brussels Expo. Construction of these halls began in 1935 for the World’s Fair. Top class collections were displayed for sale; from paintings, jewelry to antique furniture and more. For me it was a special moment to also see again the galleries from TEFAF such as Galerie Florence de Voldère from Paris and Axel Vervoordt who is known as interior designer of Kim Kardashians’ house.
The European Fine Art Fair – What every art lover and collector should not miss is the annual TEFAF in Maastricht, an art fair of international stature where no price is too crazy. Having worked there myself for years (for French & Company Art New York and Stoppenbach&Delestre Paris & London), I was now present as a visitor together with a friend Elizabete at the preview and how we enjoyed it! At 1 p.m. we were already sitting down to champagne and oysters. So many beautiful, timeless objects fed our eyes such as Mieke Zilverberg‘s Egyptian sculptures, Bies Gallery‘s Mesdag, Peter Finer‘s antique weapons, the Old Masters at Colnaghi and what was definitely a highlight; the majestic cabinet from 1898 (8.5 million pounds!) of which only 3 were made in the world. This one was on display at Adrien Alan, a London-based gallery. However, there are other artworks I want to share with you, but what I find most precious are the personal ties I have with the gallery owners; after all these years, it feels like one cozy, international family!
Ciao Milano – Last year a friend of mine had moved to Milan from London, so a visit was not out of the question! At the end of March, I went to see her. Eyes were in short supply: from beautiful Roman pillars, the Cathedral, Basilica San Ambrogio to the Castello Sforzesco and so on. All the cultural delights, restaurants and clubs are within walking distance. A visit to two famous museums is definitely not to be missed: for example, the Pinacoteca di Brera has a top-notch collection of Italian art from the Renaissance to the present. Great names such as Rafael, Bellini and Caravaggio hang on the walls here. One thing not to be missed is the Fondazione Prada. In this architectural eye-catcher you will find many contemporary artworks by Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, among others.
The hunt for treasures – Around me I have wonderful friendships who also have the same interest in ‘old’ objects. I find it very pleasant to go out with a friend in search of timeless objects. One of those friends is Aoifie; with her I spent a Sunday afternoon at the antique market in Dordrecht and visited an antiquarian bookshop. Another highlight of this year: seeing Joyce again, a cool friend who doesn’t mince words. After not seeing each other for years, we had a lot of fun in the fortified city of Leiden. Besides the cozy cafes, we also visited a number of antique shops and business relations arose from this.
Contemporary Fair – Thanks to tickets from Okker Art Gallery, Elizabete and I visited the contemporary art fair of the Netherlands: the Amsterdam Art Fair. At this colorful fair, new ideas emerged to merge our creative plans in the future.
Walking on the roofs in Rotterdam? – You can on Rotterdam Roof Days! Together with Tamara (also working as a city guide) we explored the port city on the roofs with the Maassilo as our starting point. From here you have a view on the pearls of Rotterdam like the Zalmhavenentoren (the biggest residence of the Benelux), the Rotterdam and the Erasmusbrug.
Londons calling! – For me, London is the world city with its classic buildings, preservation for traditions and its top museums. Although I have been to many museums, I just can’t get enough of the Victoria & Albert Museum and The Wallace Collection. In both you will find art on many levels such as paintings, sculpture, jewelry and Armory. Given my connections with the TEFAF gallery owners, I visited the galleries over a bottle of wine. In addition, we visited the world’s prestigious auction houses such as Christie’s and Bonhams.
Knokke Art Fair – Belgium’s most prestigious seaside resort hosts the annual Knokke Art Fair where galleries from neighboring countries, think France, the Netherlands and Germany, show their collections to a wide audience. The building, Grand Casino Knokke, an sich is already breathtaking. This building is from 1930 and still has the original murals by surrealist painter René Magritte. Rueb Gallery from Amsterdam showed works by Karel Appel here and Galerie von Vertes had works by the Yayoi Kusama. Kusama is a Japanese artist whose collaborations include Louis Vuitton.
United Arab Emirates – For years it had been a dream of mine to visit a friend in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. No sooner said than done, I went to the United Arab Emirates in November. I stared my eyes out; a country where a lot has been built in the last 20 years (think The Palm, the world’s largest building Burj al Khalifah) and where people are rebuilding daily. It is truly a land of hospitality: wherever you went you (being a woman 😊) were given drinks, food and nothing was too much! I myself can enjoy contemporary architecture, but a vacation without having seen antiques does not exist for me. Thus, I visited Louvre Abu Dhabi, located in the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, where a Guggenheim will also be located, as well as the Zayed National Museum which will open its doors in 2025.
PAN Amsterdam – At the invitation of Peggy and Larry, Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts New York, at the end of November I visited the national art fair: PAN Amsterdam in the RAI. Most of the works on display at PAN were made in the Netherlands from Antiquity to the present day, from paintings to jewelry; something for every collector! It’s also great to see that not only Dutch dealers are present, but also galleries of international standing such as (Larry) Steigrad Fine Arts with a specialization in Old Masters and The Weiss Gallery from London with a specialization in British portraiture.
In the city where the heat is on – In The States, too, they know a good way to deal with art. In Miami, Art Week Miami takes place annually in December; there are fairs at various locations throughout the city, with several galleries under one roof. THE fairs are Art Basel (located on South Beach), Art Miami Fair and Context (both in Miami Downtown). What these fairs have in common is a large collection of contemporary art: from Picasso to Peter Demetz, in Miami I was short of eyes. Here, too, I made fine contacts; what came out of this? You will read more about that in 2024.
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2023: a fabulous and eventful year
Last year was an inspirational year and certainly not boring. Many wonderful opportunities and new people have come my way that I cherish immensely. Not only have I experienced growth on a personal level, but also for Raechell, the webshop, my passion.
Winterswijk – Let me take you to a few moments of 2023, starting with the opening of the Art Gallery Art by Suus, by Suzanne Hengeveld. All her drawings and illustrations show different elements from nature. Suzanne I got to know through a friend of mine, Tamara. The opening was very successful and I immediately became friends with the Stafford Siep.
Brussels Art Fair – A few weeks later, I went to the most famous art fair in Belgium: the BRAFA Art Fair in Brussels. Wonderful was this fair; located in one of the halls of Brussels Expo. Construction of these halls began in 1935 for the World’s Fair. Top class collections were displayed for sale; from paintings, jewelry to antique furniture and more. For me it was a special moment to also see again the galleries from TEFAF such as Galerie Florence de Voldère from Paris and Axel Vervoordt who is known as interior designer of Kim Kardashians’ house.
The European Fine Art Fair – What every art lover and collector should not miss is the annual TEFAF in Maastricht, an art fair of international stature where no price is too crazy. Having worked there myself for years (for French & Company Art New York and Stoppenbach&Delestre Paris & London), I was now present as a visitor together with a friend Elizabete at the preview and how we enjoyed it! At 1 p.m. we were already sitting down to champagne and oysters. So many beautiful, timeless objects fed our eyes such as Mieke Zilverberg‘s Egyptian sculptures, Bies Gallery‘s Mesdag, Peter Finer‘s antique weapons, the Old Masters at Colnaghi and what was definitely a highlight; the majestic cabinet from 1898 (8.5 million pounds!) of which only 3 were made in the world. This one was on display at Adrien Alan, a London-based gallery. However, there are other artworks I want to share with you, but what I find most precious are the personal ties I have with the gallery owners; after all these years, it feels like one cozy, international family!
Ciao Milano – Last year a friend of mine had moved to Milan from London, so a visit was not out of the question! At the end of March, I went to see her. Eyes were in short supply: from beautiful Roman pillars, the Cathedral, Basilica San Ambrogio to the Castello Sforzesco and so on. All the cultural delights, restaurants and clubs are within walking distance. A visit to two famous museums is definitely not to be missed: for example, the Pinacoteca di Brera has a top-notch collection of Italian art from the Renaissance to the present. Great names such as Rafael, Bellini and Caravaggio hang on the walls here. One thing not to be missed is the Fondazione Prada. In this architectural eye-catcher you will find many contemporary artworks by Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, among others.
The hunt for treasures – Around me I have wonderful friendships who also have the same interest in ‘old’ objects. I find it very pleasant to go out with a friend in search of timeless objects. One of those friends is Aoifie; with her I spent a Sunday afternoon at the antique market in Dordrecht and visited an antiquarian bookshop. Another highlight of this year: seeing Joyce again, a cool friend who doesn’t mince words. After not seeing each other for years, we had a lot of fun in the fortified city of Leiden. Besides the cozy cafes, we also visited a number of antique shops and business relations arose from this.
Contemporary Fair – Thanks to tickets from Okker Art Gallery, Elizabete and I visited the contemporary art fair of the Netherlands: the Amsterdam Art Fair. At this colorful fair, new ideas emerged to merge our creative plans in the future.
Walking on the roofs in Rotterdam? – You can on Rotterdam Roof Days! Together with Tamara (also working as a city guide) we explored the port city on the roofs with the Maassilo as our starting point. From here you have a view on the pearls of Rotterdam like the Zalmhavenentoren (the biggest residence of the Benelux), the Rotterdam and the Erasmusbrug.
Londons calling! – For me, London is the world city with its classic buildings, preservation for traditions and its top museums. Although I have been to many museums, I just can’t get enough of the Victoria & Albert Museum and The Wallace Collection. In both you will find art on many levels such as paintings, sculpture, jewelry and Armory. Given my connections with the TEFAF gallery owners, I visited the galleries over a bottle of wine. In addition, we visited the world’s prestigious auction houses such as Christie’s and Bonhams.
Knokke Art Fair – Belgium’s most prestigious seaside resort hosts the annual Knokke Art Fair where galleries from neighboring countries, think France, the Netherlands and Germany, show their collections to a wide audience. The building, Grand Casino Knokke, an sich is already breathtaking. This building is from 1930 and still has the original murals by surrealist painter René Magritte. Rueb Gallery from Amsterdam showed works by Karel Appel here and Galerie von Vertes had works by the Yayoi Kusama. Kusama is a Japanese artist whose collaborations include Louis Vuitton.
United Arab Emirates – For years it had been a dream of mine to visit a friend in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. No sooner said than done, I went to the United Arab Emirates in November. I stared my eyes out; a country where a lot has been built in the last 20 years (think The Palm, the world’s largest building Burj al Khalifah) and where people are rebuilding daily. It is truly a land of hospitality: wherever you went you (being a woman 😊) were given drinks, food and nothing was too much! I myself can enjoy contemporary architecture, but a vacation without having seen antiques does not exist for me. Thus, I visited Louvre Abu Dhabi, located in the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, where a Guggenheim will also be located, as well as the Zayed National Museum which will open its doors in 2025.
PAN Amsterdam – At the invitation of Peggy and Larry, Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts New York, at the end of November I visited the national art fair: PAN Amsterdam in the RAI. Most of the works on display at PAN were made in the Netherlands from Antiquity to the present day, from paintings to jewelry; something for every collector! It’s also great to see that not only Dutch dealers are present, but also galleries of international standing such as (Larry) Steigrad Fine Arts with a specialization in Old Masters and The Weiss Gallery from London with a specialization in British portraiture.
In the city where the heat is on – In The States, too, they know a good way to deal with art. In Miami, Art Week Miami takes place annually in December; there are fairs at various locations throughout the city, with several galleries under one roof. THE fairs are Art Basel (located on South Beach), Art Miami Fair and Context (both in Miami Downtown). What these fairs have in common is a large collection of contemporary art: from Picasso to Peter Demetz, in Miami I was short of eyes. Here, too, I made fine contacts; what came out of this? You will read more about that in 2024.