23/11: TEFAF Maastricht Marks 20 years of Success
Category: Destinations
Posted by: Editor
Maastricht, The Netherlands » Over the past 20 years The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), which will be held in the Dutch city of Maastricht from March 9 – 18, 2007, has transformed itself from a comparatively modest show into one of the most important events in the international art market calendar.
In 2007 TEFAF will open its doors for the 20th time under that name at the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC) when 218 of the world’s leading dealers will exhibit art and antiques worth about $1 billion.
Last year a record 84,000 people came to TEFAF, an 8 percent increase over 2005, and on March 16, 2006 the fair welcomed its millionth visitor. However such popularity could threaten the fair's reputation for quality and exclusivity and so entrance prices have been raised which should reduce visitor numbers in 2007. TEFAF has become a must for every serious museum curator and director who wishes to keep up to date with what is happening in the art world while major collectors are keen to visit a fair where the vast range of works exhibited include an estimated 70 percent of the Old Master paintings currently on the market.
Yet TEFAF had humble origins. It was originally called Pictura and had just 28 exhibitors when it opened in Maastricht’s Eurohal in 1975. The latter’s success gave birth to a second fair named Antiqua three years later. In 1985 the two fairs merged under the name Antiquairs International & Pictura Fine Art Fair and in 1988 the fair relocated to the new MECC on the outskirts of Maastricht and adopted the TEFAF title.
The 2007 Fair, which will run from Friday March 9 to Sunday March 18, will have a new and spectacular fair design, and will include dealers from 15 countries selling paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, classical antiquities, illuminated manuscripts, jewelry, textiles, porcelain, glass, silver and other works of art.
In recent years TEFAF, long-famed for its Old Master paintings, has expanded its modern and contemporary art section and the new exhibitors in 2007 will include Hauser & Wirth, based in Zurich and London, which represents emerging and established contemporary artists and is one of the leading specialists in its field. Another new exhibitor will be John Eskenazi, a renowned international dealer in Asian art. Mr Eskenazi, who is based in London, has specialized in Indian, Gandharan, Himalayan and South-East Asian art since 1977. John Endlich from Haarlem, one of the leading specialists in Dutch silver dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries, will also reinforce the fair while Old Masters dealers Otto Naumann from New York and Galerie Sanct Lucas from Vienna, who have exhibited in the past, will return to TEFAF.
The magnificent works of art at TEFAF will include:
» An 18th portrait of Charles Grant, Vicomte de Vaux by Louis- Rolland Trinquesse exhibited by Bernheimer-Colnaghi of London and Munich.
» Still life with a pewter jug by the 17th century Dutchman Simon Luttichuys, which will be brought by French & Company of New York.
» A 2,000 year-old Roman marble sculpture Portrait of a woman with braided hair to be shown by Jean-David Cahn of Basel.
» A Cartier diamond brooch worn by the late Princess Margaret at the coronation of her sister Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, offered by Hancocks of London.
» A Chinese wood-hinged cabinet, dating from the late 16th to early 17th centuries, exhibited by Grace Wu Bruce from Hong Kong.
» Moving landscape with spherical trees painted by Paul Klee in 1920, which will be shown by Galerie Thomas of Munich.
» An 18th century Imperial Chinese Zitan Brushpot, decorated with a poem written in calligraphy by Liang Zhizeng, Chancellor of the Imperial Hanlin Academy and an important court artist, exhibited by Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art of London. Dates 2007: March 9-18
AXA Art, principal sponsor of TEFAF
AXA Art and TEFAF will offer a limited edition service card to visitors enabling them to check the provenance of artworks on international databases. AXA Art will also stage an exhibition entitled Thrill of Collecting II: Plastic, showing rare design and art objects made of plastic from collections around the world.
In 2007 TEFAF will open its doors for the 20th time under that name at the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC) when 218 of the world’s leading dealers will exhibit art and antiques worth about $1 billion.
Last year a record 84,000 people came to TEFAF, an 8 percent increase over 2005, and on March 16, 2006 the fair welcomed its millionth visitor. However such popularity could threaten the fair's reputation for quality and exclusivity and so entrance prices have been raised which should reduce visitor numbers in 2007. TEFAF has become a must for every serious museum curator and director who wishes to keep up to date with what is happening in the art world while major collectors are keen to visit a fair where the vast range of works exhibited include an estimated 70 percent of the Old Master paintings currently on the market.
Yet TEFAF had humble origins. It was originally called Pictura and had just 28 exhibitors when it opened in Maastricht’s Eurohal in 1975. The latter’s success gave birth to a second fair named Antiqua three years later. In 1985 the two fairs merged under the name Antiquairs International & Pictura Fine Art Fair and in 1988 the fair relocated to the new MECC on the outskirts of Maastricht and adopted the TEFAF title.
The 2007 Fair, which will run from Friday March 9 to Sunday March 18, will have a new and spectacular fair design, and will include dealers from 15 countries selling paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, classical antiquities, illuminated manuscripts, jewelry, textiles, porcelain, glass, silver and other works of art.
In recent years TEFAF, long-famed for its Old Master paintings, has expanded its modern and contemporary art section and the new exhibitors in 2007 will include Hauser & Wirth, based in Zurich and London, which represents emerging and established contemporary artists and is one of the leading specialists in its field. Another new exhibitor will be John Eskenazi, a renowned international dealer in Asian art. Mr Eskenazi, who is based in London, has specialized in Indian, Gandharan, Himalayan and South-East Asian art since 1977. John Endlich from Haarlem, one of the leading specialists in Dutch silver dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries, will also reinforce the fair while Old Masters dealers Otto Naumann from New York and Galerie Sanct Lucas from Vienna, who have exhibited in the past, will return to TEFAF.
The magnificent works of art at TEFAF will include:
» An 18th portrait of Charles Grant, Vicomte de Vaux by Louis- Rolland Trinquesse exhibited by Bernheimer-Colnaghi of London and Munich.
» Still life with a pewter jug by the 17th century Dutchman Simon Luttichuys, which will be brought by French & Company of New York.
» A 2,000 year-old Roman marble sculpture Portrait of a woman with braided hair to be shown by Jean-David Cahn of Basel.
» A Cartier diamond brooch worn by the late Princess Margaret at the coronation of her sister Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, offered by Hancocks of London.
» A Chinese wood-hinged cabinet, dating from the late 16th to early 17th centuries, exhibited by Grace Wu Bruce from Hong Kong.
» Moving landscape with spherical trees painted by Paul Klee in 1920, which will be shown by Galerie Thomas of Munich.
» An 18th century Imperial Chinese Zitan Brushpot, decorated with a poem written in calligraphy by Liang Zhizeng, Chancellor of the Imperial Hanlin Academy and an important court artist, exhibited by Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art of London. Dates 2007: March 9-18
AXA Art, principal sponsor of TEFAF
AXA Art and TEFAF will offer a limited edition service card to visitors enabling them to check the provenance of artworks on international databases. AXA Art will also stage an exhibition entitled Thrill of Collecting II: Plastic, showing rare design and art objects made of plastic from collections around the world.
