The 23-year-old started up a web development company with his brother, and the two have launched Artplace, an online art gallery. Jacobs has always had an interest in art, has a collection of his own and followed a short art course in Paris.
I was actually hooked from my first visit to the site, browsing through the multiple disciplines - painting, drawing, sculpture, etc. You can search in a number of ways - by price, for instance, or time period or artist.
It's free to sell a piece on Artplace and free to sign up to browse. "It's a hobby of mine, and I was keen to do it just because I love art," says Jacobs. Eventually the pair hope to make money through advertisements on the site or by attracting potential clients needing websites.
Artplace launched last spring and has about 250 pieces to date. They are being placed by private individuals as well as galleries, and some finds will surprise you. I came across a drawing by Magritte, for instance, for €900 and a lithograph by contemporary Flemish artist Panamarenko for €500. There is also the painting "4 Clowns in licht van circusprojector" by 20th-century avantgarde Flemish painter Floris Jespers for €12,000, placed on the site by the artist's son.
That's the most expensive piece I saw, but many of the items listed are "price on request". Jacobs says there are pieces listed worth as much as €150,000. There is no limit to the value at the upper end, but €500 is the lowest price allowed to be listed in order to ensure the quality of work on the site. Interested buyers contact sellers directly, so Jacobs has nothing to do with the actual transaction.
About half the works on the site right now are Belgian, and Jacobs is particularly excited by pieces on offer by 20th-century painters Gaston Bogaert and Pierre Alechinsky. But when I go to look, neither artist shows up. "Oh," Jacobs says enthusiastically, "they must have sold!"
Flanders Today is a 
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