Defining Excellence in Art

 

The 2017 Fair will take place from Friday 10 March to Sunday 19 March 2017. Tickets can be bought at the Fair from 10 to 19 March or via the online Shop (until ca. 14 days prior to the Fair). The Preview takes place on Thursday March 10th and is by invitation of one of our dealers or sponsors only. It is not possible to buy tickets for the opening at the Fair or to order these tickets in advance. TEFAF Maastricht is universally regarded as the world’s leading art fair, setting the standard for excellence in the art market. The Fair truly is an event not to be missed by collectors and museum representatives.

 

Presenting 260 of the world’s leading galleries from 20 countries, TEFAF Maastricht is a continuously evolving showcase for the best works of art currently on the market. In addition to the traditional areas of Old Master Paintings and antique Works of Art, you can see and buy at TEFAF Maastricht a wide variety of Classical Modern and Contemporary Art, as well as Jewellery, 20th Century Design and Works on Paper.

 

TEFAF Maastricht is unequalled in its level of quality and in the methods it employs to establish and guarantee the authenticity of every painting and object on offer. Participating dealers are admitted only after a strict selection process. TEFAF Maastricht’s ground breaking vetting system involves no fewer than 175 international experts in 29 different categories, who examine every work of art in the Fair for quality, authenticity and condition, ensuring that you can buy with the greatest possible confidence.

 

Over the years TEFAF Maastricht has established an unrivalled reputation as the world’s leading fair for art, antiques and design. It aims to strengthen this position by focusing on three core values – Excellence, Expertise and Elegance. These project and reinforce the character of a fair that defines excellence in art and attracts collectors, connoisseurs, curators and other art lovers from around the world. TEFAF continually improves the breadth, quality and display of the items for sale, while at the same time presenting memorable exhibitions and taking ground-breaking initiatives that have changed the way the fine art world does business. As you will see, TEFAF Maastricht’s pre-eminent position today is a result of much hard work over many years.

 

2014

 

The spring-like atmosphere that surrounded TEFAF 2014 was echoed in the Fair, where strong sales, record crowds — more than 74,000 visitors — and buyer confidence generated a buoyant mood and a new-found market optimism.   Museum sales were widespread and many dealers talked of sales to new clients.  Fair architect Tom Postma made new designs for all the restaurants and food courts at the Fair, re-interpreting their individual characters and atmosphere. The steel sculpture in the entrance hall, ‘Janey Waney’ by Alexander Calder, went on temporary display in the garden of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam after the Fair.

 

TEFAF also hosted Timeless Beauty, a magnificent loan exhibition of around thirty-five drawings from the National Graphic Arts Collection, Munich. The TEFAF Art Symposium was devoted to the topic of design. Addicted to Vintage:  Trends in 20th-Century Design brought together leading international interior designers, design experts and journalists to discuss why this market has exploded over the past ten years.  The 2014 TEFAF Art Market Report by Dr Clare McAndrew had a special focus on the United States and on China. The report showed that the global art and antiques market is almost back to the extraordinary heights of the pre-recession boom years. Following his unfortunate cycling accident in August, Ben Janssens decided in February to resign as chairman of the TEFAF Maastricht Executive Committee.  

 

Willem van Roijen, who has been a member of TEFAF’s Board since 1997, was appointed as his successor.  Between August and February, Robert Aronson, a member of the board since 2011, assumed Ben Janssens’ duties. In March 2013 TEFAF announced that it was exploring the possibilities of developing a high-end art fair for China. As the feedback from many dealers indicated that most felt that exhibiting in mainland China is something that they would consider at a later date, it was concluded in December 2013 that a fair in Beijing was not viable at present. .

 

2013

 

TEFAF adopted a new corporate identity and defined three core values – Excellence, Expertise and Elegance. In 2013 TEFAF Maastricht also had a new design that changed the look of the Fair. Fair architect Tom Postma gave the public areas a more spacious feel by raising the height of the corridors and squares and changing the lighting. There were 266 dealers from twenty countries at this year’s Fair. Eighteen rarely-seen masterpieces from the collection of drawings at the Van Gogh Museum were on display at the Fair for a special exhibition in TEFAF Paper. The TEFAF Art Market Report 2013 was presented at the TEFAF Art Symposium, Rising Stars of the Art World, on Friday, March 15th. The report examined the global art market with a focus on China and Brazil. More than 70,000 people came to TEFAF Maastricht 2013. They were welcomed in the entrance hall of the Fair by ‘Mary Poppins’, a multi-coloured art work by Joana Vasconcelos. On Tuesday, March 19th, TEFAF announced that it had entered into exclusive discussions with Sotheby’s to explore the possibilities of developing a high-end art fair for China, through Sotheby’s joint venture with GeHua in Beijing.