In keeping wih the tradition of exceptional events staged in the heart of the Belgian capital, the PIASA auction house is delighted to announce its major autumn auction at La Patinoire Royale in Brussels, organised by Sabine Mund and Valentine Roelants du Vivier. This week of art and design, running from 25 to 29 October 2026, will bring together collections of impeccable provenance, celebrating the avant-garde spirit, geometric rigour and formal experimentation.
The auction will be structured around several key sections: the dispersal of the Velma Bury Collection, comprising an exceptional collection of kinetic jewellery; the ‘Art Belge & Écoles du Nord’ sale; a session dedicated to organic and minimalist design by Jérôme Abel Seguin; and a major design auction.
In the run-up to the sale of Pol Bury’s jewellery, PIASA will organise a day of free and confidential valuations dedicated to jewellery, as well as an exclusive masterclass on Tuesday 27 October 2026, led by Véronique Tajan, Senior Specialist in the Jewellery & Watches department.
BELGIAN ART & NORTHERN SCHOOLS
Thursday 29 October 2026 at 2.00 pm
The auction day will begin at 2.00 pm with a session showcasing the great modern and contemporary masters of the Northern European art scene. Among the standout lots, Wim Delvoye takes centre stage with historic works from 1988–1990, such as the iconic Installation of 12 ironing boards (estimated at between €80,000 and €120,000) or his enamelled gas cylinders featuring Flemish- or Greek-inspired designs, such as lot Gandagas A 40082 (estimated at €15,000 to €20,000). Lyrical abstraction and constructivism are particularly evident in the historic canvas created jointly by Englebert Van Anderlecht and Jean Dypréau, Capturing the Lightning (1959), which was exhibited in its day at the Pagani Gallery in Milan (estimated at €25,000 to €35,000), as well as in an untitled painting from 2002 by Marthe Wéry, executed in acrylic on aluminium (estimated at €15,000 to €20,000).
The selection also includes a powerful oil on canvas by Karel Appel from the former collection of the sculptor Reinhoud D’Haese (estimated at €20,000 to €30,000) and a monumental photographic print on fabric by Panamarenko, Scotch Gambit at Rijnkaai, Antwerpen from 2001 (estimated at €15,000 to €20,000). This exceptional overview is complemented by remarkable works by Paul Delvaux, Bram Bogart, Reinhoud, Teun Hocks, Guillaume Bijl and Philippe Vandenberg.
POL BURY’S KINETIC JEWELLERY, VELMA BURY COLLECTION
Thursday 29 October 2026 at 3.00 pm
The session will continue at 3.00 pm with an intimate showcase eagerly anticipated by the international market, bringing together 27 exceptional pieces in 18-carat gold, 925 silver and brass, sourced directly from the artist’s family. This previously unseen collection showcases wearable kinetic art through iconic creations such as a ‘Moving Spheres’ bracelet, featuring spheres moving on either side of a cylinder and combining 18k white gold with yellow gold beads (estimated at €20,000 to €30,000), or an elegant open bangle bracelet, ‘Moving Discs’, in 18k yellow gold (estimated at €8,000 to €12,000).
The exploration of movement and vibration is also evident in the famous ‘Bâtonnets mobiles’ brooch from 1970, crafted in 18k white gold and brass and produced by Gem GianCarlo Montebello (estimated at €8,000 to €12,000), as well as a rectangular ‘Sphères mobiles’ brooch-pendant fashioned in 18k white gold (estimated at €4,000 to €6,000).
ORGANIC AND MINIMALIST DESIGN BY JÉRÔME ABEL SEGUIN
Thursday 29 October 2026 at 4.30 pm
To round off this day of auctions at 4.30 pm, PIASA and Jérôme Abel Seguin are joining forces for their third collaboration, presenting a monumental ensemble carved from rare Indonesian woods. The designer showcases teak, merbau, lychee roots, petrified wood and ironwood to great effect, as demonstrated by a spectacular dining table created in 2025, featuring an 11 cm-thick solid merbau top resting on a teak root (estimated at between €30,000 and €40,000).
The unique pieces carved from raw materials also include an exceptional screen crafted in 2026 from a lychee root and bangkirai (estimated at €25,000 to €35,000), as well as a bench from 2026 made from Java teak burl (estimated at €8,000 to €12,000).
DESIGN
Thursday 29 October 2026 at 6.00 pm
Excellence in Belgian design and arts and crafts
The first part of the auction celebrates the arts and crafts and architectural rigour that characterise the post-war Belgian scene.
The tribute opens with a remarkable monographic collection dedicated to the ceramicist and sculptor Pierre Culot. Working with chamotte stoneware and subtle glazes in his studio in Roux-Miroir, the artist explores the tensions between utilitarian function and architectural monumentality through his cruciform vases, his series inspired by the ‘Citroën’ line, his large serving dishes and his planters.
Belgian modernist furniture is represented by its leading figure, Jules Wabbes. Known for his uncompromising use of fine materials and end-grain wood, the designer is represented by iconic pieces such as the ‘Boomerang’ executive desk in solid laminated wenge, an imposing coffee table made from standing timber, and a spectacular wall-mounted coat rack in wenge and brass produced by Général Décoration.
A highlight of this selection, the sale features original furniture designed by Edward Wormley and selected by Jules Wabbes in 1965 for the fitting out of the Belgian King and Queen’s apartment aboard the Godetia, a vessel of the Belgian Navy, comprising a set of eight conference armchairs and a large circular lounge.
The art of working with materials and mineral inclusions is exemplified by Ado Chale’s creations, notably with a ‘Goutte d’eau’ coffee table in cast bronze and steel and a resin piece inlaid with malachite and jasper discs and adorned with a ruby cabochon, as well as Etienne Allemeersch’s tables featuring tiger’s eye and haematite marquetry.
Masterpieces of modernist furniture and historic light fittings
Beyond the Belgian scene, the auction brings together an exceptional collection of international icons that have marked the history of 20th-century design. Among the highlights of the sale is the famous ‘block-style’ sideboard designed by Charlotte Perriand around 1955. Intended for the executive housing estates of the MIFERMA company in Cansado, Mauritania, this piece—crafted from lacquered sheet steel, laminate and sipo wood—masterfully illustrates the designer’s unique synthesis of the rationality of mass production and the sensory warmth of wood. French design ingenuity is also celebrated by the inclusion of a Métropole No. 305 chair, known as the ‘Standard’, from the Ateliers Jean Prouvé, dating from 1950 – a seminal piece of post-war industrial design.
Italian modernism, for its part, reveals all its subtlety through a major body of work by Gio Ponti. Of particular note are a rare pair of Model No. 489 armchairs produced by Cassina around 1950, combining a walnut frame with Viennese straw caning; a wall-mounted chest of drawers in burl wood and brass created for the Hotel Royal in Naples; and a pair of armchairs from 1952 originating from the Casa Dott. Marmont. This transalpine dialogue continues with bookcases and seating by Ignazio Gardella, pieces by Carlo Mollino and Osvaldo Borsani, not to mention the creations by Afra and Tobia Scarpa for Maxalto.
The art of lighting is another highlight, thanks to the masterful artistic direction of Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte. The master glassmaker is represented by a spectacular pendant light in satin-finished glass and brass dating from around 1956, the ‘Modello 1657’ illuminated mirror, an exceptional cut tinted glass mirror dating from around 1958, the ‘Disco Volante’ lamp and the ‘Dahlia’ floor lamp, complemented by bold geometric pendant lights by Stilnovo and Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce.
The poetry of materials and form is ultimately reflected in a remarkable collection of light sculptures from Isamu Noguchi’s Akari series, where the lightness of washi paper meets the rigour of cast iron in the BB2 table lamps and BB3 floor lamps produced by Ozeki & Co. This commitment to craftsmanship is echoed in George Nakashima’s raw walnut furniture, made to special order; in the organic lines of Pierre Chapo; and in the primitive, textured style of Christian Astuguevieille, whose chairs and side tables, wrapped in hemp rope, engage in a dialogue with a series of monochromes on glass.
(Works on display during the public exhibition at La Patinoire Royale).
