Raf Van Severen

A gallery that shows a beautiful collection with great care.

Beautiful gallery located in a top location. Superb exhibition.

Very nice paintings, beautiful building and friendly host who is happy to give interesting explanations. It was a really cool experience.

Very satisfied with our visit to this gallery. A nice selection and certainly also a few 'unknown' artists who are a surprise. We will be back for sure

Nice exhibition of recent work by Laurenz Coninx.

If I can choose my favorite from all the galleries in Antwerp, or the one that appeals to me most in an online preliminary survey, it is undoubtedly that of Raf Van Severen. I go there haphazardly. I'm not sure what to expect. I have cycled past it a few times, each time charmed by the building and the idyllic location on the island, in the shadow of the MAS. On a drizzly Friday afternoon I blow in; there is no one else, except the extremely charming owner, Raf Van Severen himself. I introduce myself and report immediately that my visit has an educational approach. Hopefully the best man will conclude that unfortunately I am powerless of his fantastic works. Van Severen is extremely personable and tells passionately about his life and work. With a grandfather who was a renowned architect and a father who amassed a lot of Congolese painting, we don't have to amazed his fondness for art and aesthetics from an early age grew steadily. Soon he himself was at antique markets in Tongeren and Brussels and the ball started rolling. Van Severen has two galleries in Antwerp, places where he surrounds is with works carefully selected by him. For him it is essential that a work moves him, touches him. He is not so much concerned with the value of a canvas - although he mentions amounts that make me dizzy - he prefers above all pieces that meet his personal taste. He also touches on the topic "what is the value of art". Hard to comprehend, an enormous machinery behind it and all in all very subjective matter. That toppers, including for example Michaël Borremans, whose work from a certain point on, suddenly as if by magic was in demand all over the world, but having the necessary qualities, there is no doubt according to Van Severen. That quality must also be a constant, otherwise such a fairy tale will of course not last long. There is a lot of beauty in the gallery, the works are often explosions of colors and I am not sure where to look first.