HELVOIRT.- Over 10,000 international private collectors, curators and representatives from the world’s leading museums and public institutions visited TEFAF Maastricht 2016 on the Preview day, Thursday 10th March. The opening day, Friday 11th March, saw over 7,000 visitors. The draw of the most exceptional fine art, antiques and design from all over the world meant strong sales were reported across all collecting categories, to both private and institutional buyers. TEFAF Maastricht continues at the MECC, Maastricht until Sunday 20th March 2016.

Significant sales were reported throughout TEFAF Paintings with important works being debuted on the international art market. The Weiss Gallery (Stand 350) reported multiple sales on the opening day including Jupiter as a Satyr – a fragment cut from Jupiter and Antiope, c.1620, oil on canvas, by Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), which was acquired by a private collector who is generously making a long-term loan of the work to the Rubenshuis museum, Antwerp. In addition, Colnaghi (Stand 306) made seven sales on the opening day.

The Fair has had a dramatic redesign of the main entrance and the entrance to the TEFAF Works on Paper section was also reconfigured; both drew plaudits from visitors. Sales in TEFAF Works on Paper were strong, including Daniel Crouch Rare Books (Stand 702), who made several sales during the opening days, including the “Blue Map” of the world by Quianren Huang, China, 1811, which sold for a six-figure sum to a UK private collector. Many works from TEFAF Works on Paper have attracted interest with several sales to public institutions; The Metropolitan Museum, New York, acquired Aristoteles Head, 1925, woodcut print, by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868-1944), from E.H. Ariëns Kappers (Stand 710), whilst James Butterwick (Stand 709), sold two works by Alexander Bogomazov to the Kröller-Müller Museum, The Netherlands. These were Memories of the Caucasus, 1916, charcoal on paper, and Landscape, Caucasus, 1916, red chalk on paper.

Decorative arts from TEFAF Antiques have long been a popular area for collectors, and 2016 was no exception. In the Asian discipline, A Pair of Bronze Taotie Mask Ring Handles from the Eastern Zhou period (770-221 BC) was sold for circa €300,000 by Vanderven Oriental Art (Stand 102) to a Swiss private collector, and Jorge Welsh Works of Art (Stand 210), sold a Qing dynasty porcelain Blue and White Eight-Tiered Pagoda, one of only ten in the world, to a private collector for a six-figure sum.

One of the highlights from the antique jewellery discipline, a gold necklace with pearls, rubies, and nine sardonyx cameos after the antique, made in Rome, c.1850, by Fortunato Pio Castellani (1794-1865) and Luigi Pichler (1773-1854), was sold by Alessandra di Castro (Stand 151). Dr Jörn Günther Rare Books (Stand 109) sold two manuscripts and three miniatures to buyers from Germany, England and the US, including a leaf from Francesco Petrarch’s (1304-1374) Liber Africae in Latin on vellum, thought to be the only one to include both script and illustration and is one of only 17 manuscripts known.

TEFAF Classical Antiquities is also one of TEFAF Maastricht’s strengths. The Merrin Gallery (Stand 430) saw multiple pieces sold in the opening days to collectors from the UK and Europe, including a gilt silver wine vessel with elaborate decorations, Sasanian, 6th-8th century AD, for $275,000 to a UK private collector. Charles Ede (Stand 426), sold at least ten works, including an Egyptian statuette of a lion-headed goddess, c.650 BC, bronze, to an American private collector. The piece had an asking price of €110,000.

Two Art Nouveau reliefs, designed and executed by the brother of Gustav Klimt, Georg Klimt (1867-1931), Vienna, c.1900, some of the earliest pieces in the TEFAF Design section, were sold by bel etage (Stand 606) for an asking price of €400,000. 20th-century design specialist Dansk Møbelkunst (Stand 600) sold Drawer units, 1958, designed exclusively for the SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen, one of the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen’s (1902-1971) most significant projects. The piece went to a Belgian buyer. Laffanour–Galerie Downtown/Paris (Stand 605), sold the key work on their stand, from a room-set dedicated to Mexican architect Luis Barragán (19021988). The work is a long bookcase that also acts as a room divider and was part of a commission for Casa Pedregal, Mexico City, in 1951. Barragán was one of the most influential architects from Latin America, transforming Mexico City from the 1930s to 1970s. It sold to a North American private collector for a six-figure sum.

The second incarnation of TEFAF Curated, this year entitled Show Your Wound, curated by Amsterdam-based writer and curator Mark Kremer, encouraged contemporary collectors to the Fair, resulting in sales throughout the exhibition, including two pieces by the artist Klaas Kloosterboer (b.1959), 15178, 2015, Enamel on linen / sanded, and 15173, (Straw Man), 2015, video, presented by Ellen de Bruijne Projects. Show Your Wound complements TEFAF Modern, which also saw good sales throughout. The Mayor Gallery (Stand 453), sold at least six works during the opening days, including Superficie tre ovale rosso, 2016, acrylic, by Turi Simeti (b.1929).

Participants in TEFAF Showcase, the section of the Fair that gives recently established galleries the opportunity to participate in TEFAF Maastricht for one year, were delighted with the reception to their stands. Oscar Graf (Stand S5), sold the most important pieces on his stand, a pair of dining chairs for the Evans House, 1908, stained oak, leather, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), to a private collector. Galerie Laurent Dodier (Stand S3), sold a carved mask from the Republic of Congo, Songye people, early 20th century by Kifwebe Kikashi, to a new client whom they met at the Fair and Benjamin Proust (Stand S4), sold Untitled, c.1960, ebony, and Obélisque, c.1960, ebony, for around €15,000 each.

Around 200 delegates attended the TEFAF Art Symposium on Friday 11th March, at which Dr. Clare McAndrew presented the 2016 TEFAF Art Market Report. After the report, Informing the Art World – Speed, Needs & Globalisation was the subject of the Fair's fifth panel discussion. Dr. Thomas Marks, Editor of Apollo magazine, chaired a dynamic discussion between Georgina Adam, art market reporter for the Financial Times and editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper, Dr Clare McAndrew, economist and author of the annual TEFAF Art Market Report, and Rozalia Jovanovic, Editor-in-chief at Artnet, on the dissemination of news online and in print. Topics discussed included how to keep art market news fresh for readers and content relevant for both online and print audiences, and how the TEFAF Art Market Report extracts valuable data from the art market which aids transparency.