With objects dating as far back as 7,000 years, 260 of the world’s most prestigious arts and antiques dealers, and over 175 experts to do the vetting, the European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht, Netherlands, is widely regarded as the pinnacle of fine art markets.
Now in its 25th year, TEFAF Maastricht will take place March 16–25. On the occasion of its silver jubilee, TEFAF Maastricht is releasing a book titled “Celebrating the Best, 25 Years of TEFAF Maastricht.”
“TEFAF is a success because of one thing: not the location, not the buzz and who attends, nor the educational tours, and the sponsorship parties,” says New York-based art investor Jim Hedges, as quoted from the book in a TEFAF press release. “It is a success because the finest quality galleries show the best material of any fair in the world.”
The fair is so well vetted that visitors are virtually surrounded by museum-quality works.
The book tells the story of a picture dealer who displayed his catalogues on an antique table that didn’t meet TEFAF’s quality standards: “The furniture vetters duly turned up, pronounced it not up to standard and had it removed and stowed away in a locked storage room.
“The exhibitor was not pleased by their decision and pointed out that he was not trying to sell the table but the vetters stood their ground and said that it was an antique on show at the fair.” The resolution came with a simple tablecloth.
There’s also the opportunity for accidental discoveries. The book gives the example of individual collector Dora Janssen, who stumbled upon a vendor she didn’t know and made a relatively modest purchase of a medieval illuminated miniature in the 1990s.
But that chance encounter led to a major one the following year when she bought a 15th century work from the same dealer. She described the piece as “one of the grandest books of hours in existence.”
