The world’s leading antique fair will take place in Maastricht, the Netherlands, from March 9th to 14th. This season, it has virtually no competitors.
Last year, TEFAF further solidified its status as the world’s foremost art fair of all time and nations. Its main competitor, Fine Arts Paris & La Biennale, which combined two major French antique shows, has announced restructuring. The new name FAB PARIS has yet to fully resonate within the collectors or dealers’ consciousness, despite the allure of the two associated words “Paris” and “Grand Palais”. The new fair is scheduled to take place in November at the latter, which is opening this year after extensive renovation. However, it is too early to make big bets on it. The new brand must present itself in the best possible way and avoid associations with French marchands that have been involved in recent scandals involving counterfeits. Therefore, the Dutch show has no reason to worry for the next few years: collectors and museum professionals from all over the world will continue to come to Maastricht to add to their collections of antiques, old masters, impressionists, and modernists.
At the 37th TEFAF fair, 270 renowned international dealers and jewelry houses from 22 countries will participate. Among them are French Didier Aaron with old master paintings, Applicat-Prazan with modernist and Paris School masters, and Steinitz with furniture and decorative arts from the time of Louis XIV (by the way, one of the vases on display this season is a pair to the one in Versailles). Britain’s Colnaghi is one of the oldest galleries in the world, specializing in Renaissance art. Dickinson Gallery works with major antique collectors and recently sold Renoir’s “Lying Nude” from the Leonid Michelson collection in Maastricht. David Gill Gallery, whose owner was one of the first to attract great modern architects such as Zaha Hadid and David Chipperfield to furniture design. A La Vieille Russie from the U.S. showcases works by Fabergé and other legendary jewelers, Aicon Gallery features contemporary art from the East, and Geoffrey Diner Gallery exhibits 20th-century art and design.
Jean Dunand. Japanese goldfish bar. C. 1928
Since 2008, the Showcase section of the fair has been offering participation opportunities to young galleries aged 3–10 years, who have established themselves in the market with high-quality exhibited works. This year is no exception, with ten such dealers from Italy, Belgium, England, Poland, France, and the Netherlands participating in the fair. Among them, for instance, is Tommaso Calabro from Milan, who works in the secondary market of post-war art. Its repertoire boasts a plethora of stars, from Max Ernst and Yves Klein to Andy Warhol and Jean Dubuffet. Prior to applying to TEFAF, the gallery owners successfully showcased their works at the Frieze London fair. Another example is Flavio Gianassi — FG Fine Art from London, that acquired four rare pre-Renaissance altarpieces by Checco di Pietro for Maastricht.
The highlight of the 2024 show will be the introduction of a new TEFAF Focus section, where the selected marchands will have the opportunity to showcase both innovative experiments by a particular master and the skill to blend objects from different styles and periods within one space. The list also includes ten participants, among them – London’s Bowman Sculpture with a retrospective of Auguste Rodin’s cabinet bronzes and a group that joined collaborated to create a comprehensive installation of ancient Greek vessels, fresh abstractions by Scotsman Callum Innes, and sculptural furniture by Gloria Cortina of Charles Ede and Sean Kelly galleries.
Photo: press-office
