Sales continued throughout TEFAF Maastricht 2013 which closed March 24.  Exhibitors observed that it was the best objects that found buyers most readily – reflecting the trend reported in the wider international market.

In TEFAF paintings, many observed that the standard of pictures was particularly high in 2013 putting a lie to the oft reported notion that the Old Master market is in its death throes.  Dealers went out of their way to bring fresh, privately sourced stock to the Fair.  Works bought at auction where exhibitors added value through research, restoration and sometimes reattribution also had no difficulty finding buyers.

TEFAF veteran, Otto Naumann, New York (stand 351) reported the sale of a vibrant large-scale work by Carlo Marrata (1625-1713), entitled The Birth of the Virgin, which had the asking price of $4.9 million.  Another New York Old Master specialist Jack Kilgore & Co (stand 348) was delighted to sell A Woman Tuning a Lute by the Dutch Caravaggist painter, Gerrit Hermansz. Van Honthorst (1592-1656) to a North American museum.  A beautifully, fluid painting depicting Cleopatra with the asp  by Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734) was sold through Jean-Luc Baroni, London (stand 382).

TEFAF Modern also saw some lively buying.  Marlborough Galleries, New York and London (stand 412) exhibited, amongst others, the work of Manolo Valdés in the hope of further building the market for this exuberant New York based Spanish artist in Europe and were pleased to sell three major works to separate collectors:  Dama, 2012, oil on burlap; Retrato en blanco y rojo, 2012, oil on burlap and Infanta, VI, 2012 a unique sculpture in alabaster.. Von Bartha, Basel (stand 501) reported meeting a number of high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals at TEFAF 2013 and reported healthy sales including one of the most well-known drawings by Roberto Matta (b. 1938), Nerf-cerfs volants, pencil and crayon, and an iconic work by Gerhard von Graevenitz (1935-1983) Weisse konkave Elipse auf schwartz, 1971 and 1973, which sold to an important private Swiss collector.  Kukje Gallery, Seoul (stand 523) reported strong sales including an untitled work made from Murano glass and steel in 2011 by Jean-Michel Othoniel (b. 1964).

Jewellery performed well at TEFAF in 2013, with works by René Lalique proving exceptionally popular. Lalique was once described by the famous businessman and art collector Gulbenkian as, “…he (Lalique) ranks amongst the greatest figures in the history of art of all time, and his masterful touch, as well as his exquisite imagination, will excite the admiration of future cognoscenti…”.  Wartski, London (stand 242) sold an extraordinary gold, enamel and gem-set necklace by Lalique consisting of four separate panels formed from intertwining damselflies to a new private collector: the necklace had an asking price of €1.3 million. Hancocks, London (stand 243) sold an exceptional Lalique brooch made from yellow gold, enamel and old cut diamonds in the form of two Papillon de Nuit in flight with their wings open from 1907, which had an asking price of $1 million.  Epoque Fine Jewels, Kortrijk (stand 130) sold a plique-à-jour enamel, aquarmarine and diamond pendant in the shape of four dragonflies by Lalique from 1903 to a European collector and Dutch specialists, A. Aardewerk Antiquair Jeweller, The Hague (stand 240) also reported selling a number of pieces by the Art Nouveau master.

Nomos, Zurich (stand 250) were delighted to sell the Trinity medal (Moritz-Pfennig). The medal was made in 1544 during the Reformation by Hans Reinhart the Elder (c. 1510-1581) in Leipzigfor Maurice, Duke (1541-1547) and Elector (1574-1553) of Saxony during.  The medal is regarded as Reinhart’s greatest medal as well as being one of the most important medals of the German Renaissance.  It sold to a German private collector and had an asking price of €245K.  Kunstkammer Georg Laue, Munich (stand 206), whose stand of kunstkammer objects always draws admiration and compliments, sold a wonderful fruitwood carved sculpture of Chronos, from circle of Balthasar Permoser to a private New York collector. 

Asian art dealers Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art, London, New York and Hong Kong (stand 269) sold a number of pieces to Chinese collectors including a massive sacrificial blue bottle vase, Tianquping – Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735) and an 18th-century carved bamboo brush pot, inscribed and signed by one of the most celebrated artists of this time, Gu Jue.  Both pieces had an asking price in the region of €1m.

First time exhibitors to the Fair, Yufuku Gallery, Tokyo (stand 270) were delighted to report that The gallery sold 90 per cent of the objects on their stand in the first four days and were hopeful of selling everything they had brought to TEFAF by the end of the Fair.

TEFAF Maastricht 2013 was held at the MECC Maastricht until March 24th, 2013.

TEFAF Maastricht 2014 will take place from 14-23 March 2014