Xavier Hufkens has been exhibiting contemporary artists in Brussels since he opened his first gallery in a downtown warehouse 35 years ago.
He now occupies a landmark Ixelles town house in Rue St Georges, just off Avenue Louise. One of the most important art dealers in Belgium, he has brought well-known names like Antony Gormley and Louise Bourgeois to Brussels, but he also nurtures young artists at the start of their careers.
A new extension was added earlier this year by the Ghent architects Robbrecht & Daem, who had already converted the town house into a gallery in the 1990s. It is now the epicentre of a Brussels neighbourhood dotted with contemporary galleries.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
