TEFAF

ATG reporter Frances Allitt took her first trip to TEFAF Maastricht and, as well as witnessing the colour, excitement and love for art and objects that pervade the fair, she also learned some valuable lessons from dealers and visitors.

The aisles were busy at the opening of the 29th edition of TEFAF Maastricht 2016 and a decent stream of sales to private buyers added to the buzz created by some significant museum acquisitions.

With the preview of TEFAF 2016 now underway, ATG gives you a snapshot around the stands of the fair.

Global art sales fell during 2015 with the most significant a decline coming in the Chinese market.

The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), umbrella organiser of the world’s foremost art and antiques fair in Maastricht, are launching two boutique events in the Park Avenue Armory, New York.

‘TEFAF Maastricht’ opened last week to bright spring sunshine and the usual heaving crowds thronging around the 280 stands.

More news of sales is filtering through from the first weekend at TEFAF Maastricht, where more than 10,000 visitors attended the fair preview last Thursday March 12.

COMMENT: The TEFAF Report shows that the art market has fully recovered since the 2008 financial crash, but still faces a number of challenges, such as late or non-payment.

Post-War and Contemporary art accounts for almost half of total spend at auction

Every year on the cusp between winter and spring, the enormous ‘TEFAF Maastricht’ arrives at the Maastricht Exhibition & Conference Centre (MECC), a rare souk of art, antiques and design from antiquity to contemporary, Boulle to Basquiat.

Old Master paintings rarely take centre stage over Modern, Impressionist or Contemporary art these days. Yet this most traditional of collecting disciplines remains the soul of TEFAF Maastricht, the umbilical cord to its genesis as the Pictura fair.

A series of three events aimed at collectors and art enthusiasts in the run up to TEFAF Maastricht (March 13-22) launches next week in London to promote the fair.

After 17 years as managing director of TEFAF Maastricht, Paul Hustinx will step down shortly after this year’s fair to be replaced by new chief executive officer Patrick van Maris.

The list of five successful applicants for the 2015 TEFAF Maastricht ‘Showcase’ has been announced and, while it includes three Parisian galleries, unusually this year’s selection does not include any British dealers.

Visitors to ‘TEFAF Maastricht’ 2015 will be greeted by a revamped entrance to the fair alongside a new ‘curated space’ of work by post-Modern and contemporary artists to tie in with the ‘TEFAF Modern section’.

New York has firmly reinforced its status as the capital of the global art market with a 25% growth in the value of US sales last year.

Bright spring sunshine greeted the opening of this year’s TEFAF Maastricht in sharp contrast to last year when freak snowfall disrupted many visitors’ travel plans to the southern Netherlands.

Following his severe cycling accident last August, Ben Janssens has regretfully resigned as chairman of the executive committee of TEFAF Maastricht.

Since the idea was first announced in March, news had gone quiet on a possible ‘TEFAF Beijing’, a collaboration between ‘TEFAF Maastricht’ and Sotheby’s Joint Venture in Beijing with GeHua.

TEFAF have announced that they are in discussions with Sotheby’s about the possibility of launching a high-end art fair in mainland China next year.