TEFAF


A rare porcelain plate from the Yuan period (1271-1368), an Art Nouveau oak chair of furniture designer Carlo Bugatti, the painting Le Moulin de la Galette (1887) of Vincent van Gogh, or Francis Bacon’s Study from a human body (1986). This and many more could be all be admired and purchased at the 2014 edition of The European Fine Art Fair (better known as TEFAF). Since its very beginning in 1975 (originally named Pictura Fine Art Fair) the annual art and antiques fair in Maastricht has attracted the rich and famous from all over the world (think of Brad Pitt, Silvio Berlusconi or Calvin Klein). 275 galleries and dealers offer over 30.000 items for sale for a value about 2 billion euros in total. For ten days high quality paintings, jewelry, furniture, manuscripts etc. can be purchased. Only the ‘crème de la crème’ is proposed. Authenticity and quality for every object on offer are of major importance. Items with even minor damages are excluded from the fair.

It is likely that most of the 30.000 items have been sold. The global art and antiques market is doing well, if we have to believe the news that the market is back to the level of before the recession.

Research and consulting firm Arts Economics researched 2013’s art economy and global art market. They focused particularly on the US and China. Not very global, isn’t it? Nevertheless, Arts Economics’s outcome of their survey is shared by others in the artworld. Bloom and change are felt. But for how long? Whether this trend is a good thing for the art market and the artworld in general remains to be seen. Will the amounts that are paid for art works remain exuberant? Or are we eventually heading straight to a new art crisis? Who knows?

But for now, art lovers, collectors and professionals can enjoy the abundance of art at one of the largest and most important fairs in the world.

TEFAF was until Sunday, 23th of March 2014.

The TEFAF logo. Courtesy TEFAF

The TEFAF logo. Courtesy TEFAF