Ninety four of the world's most illustrious art, antiques and design specialists will converge on New York's historic Park Avenue Armory, October 22-26, 2016, for what is the most highly anticipated art market introduction in New York City in decades. TEFAF New York Fall, a joint venture between TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation) and Artvest Partners, will bring TEFAF Maastricht's legendary "DNA" to the New York and with it, an unparalleled collection of museum-quality works in one place. The Opening Night for TEFAF New York will benefit The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York on Friday, October 21st at the fair.

TEFAF New York Fall is the essential next step for the world’s top art and antiques dealers for whom North America is an important meeting ground in a global community of collectors, curators, interior designers, and art enthusiasts. Offering an deeply diverse collection of museum-quality works, the show will offer an exceptional opportunity to view and purchase the best pieces available on the market across multiple collecting areas, including furniture, decorations, objects, ceramics, glass, silver, textiles, tapestries, antiquities, jewelry, paintings, sculpture, arms and armour, books, manuscripts and autographs, Tribal, Oceanic and Ethnographic Art, Asian Art, and Fabergé, offering something of interest for every visitor to the fair. Old Masters, traditionally TEFAF's strongest suit, will be well represented at TEFAF New York, with the world's premier Old Master dealerships in attendance. 

TEFAF WEEK in New York 

TEFAF New York Fall will be the centerpiece of the newly launched TEFAF WEEK in New York, an event-filled week of exhibitions, lectures, and art events scheduled to coincide with the fair at the Park Avenue Armory. Its mission is to celebrate the fine and decorative arts sector in New York City during a time when the world’s top specialist dealers, museum curators/directors, collectors and interior designers converge for TEFAF New York Fall.

TEFAF WEEK is a partnership between TEFAF New York and distinguished cultural institutions and associations, world-class museums and top-tier fine and decorative art specialists in the New York metropolitan area.

First Look at TEFAF New York Fall

The exhibitors of TEFAF New York Fall are leaders in their respective fields with a number of them showing for the very first time in New York, or returning after a significant hiatus. They are A. Aardewerk Antiquair Juwelier, Adam Williams Fine Art Ltd., Agnews, Alberto Di Castro, Alessandra Di Castro, Åmells, Antiquariaat Forum bv, Ben Janssens Oriental Art Ltd., Benappi, Burzio, Carlo Orsi, Christophe de Quénetain, Daniel Katz Ltd., De Jonckheere, Dickinson, Eguiguren Arte de Hispanoamérica, Eric Coatalem, G. Sarti Antiques Ltd., Galerie Didier Claes, Galerie Jacques Germain, Galerie Kevorkian, Galerie Meyer - Oceanic & Eskimo Art, Galerie Sanct Lucas GmbH, Galleria Carlo Virgilio & Co, Gallery Perrin, Hemmerle, Heribert Tenschert-Antiquariat Bibermühle AG, Jaime Eguiguren-Arte y Antigüedades, Jean-Luc Baroni Ltd, Joan Wijermars, Jorge Welsh Works of Art, Ltd., Julius Böhler Kunsthandlung GmbH, Kunstgalerij Albricht, Kunsthandel S. Mehringer OHG, Kunstkammer Georg Laue, Lowell Libson Ltd, Otto Jakob, Reza, Rob Smeets Old Master Paintings, Sam Fogg Ltd., Siegelson, Vanderven Oriental Art and Wallace Chan.

TEFAF NEW YORK HIGHLIGHTS

The richly detailed and deeply pigmented lamps made by Tiffany Studios have fascinated collectors and art-lovers alike for over 100 years. At the height of production there were over 200 distinct shade designs produced at Tiffany Studios between late 1890’s through the 1920’s, but none have achieved the lofty status of the Wisteria Lamp. Lillian Nassau, New York's top specialist dealer in the works of Tiffany, will be exhibiting a superb Tiffany Studios Wisteria Table Lamp from 1906 at TEFAF New York. (Height: 27 inches, Diameter: 18 inches) Signed.

While Louis Comfort Tiffany was the aesthetic genius who oversaw and inspired his empire, a team of designers, artisans, and craftspeople collaborated to make the windows, lamps, glass, and a vast array of luxury goods. His many designers shared and expanded his aesthetic vision.   Recent scholarship has shed light on several of the true artists behind the iconic works made at the firm, with special attention given to Clara Pierce Wolcott Driscoll, the designer of the Wisteria lamp and the head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department at Tiffany Studios.

The variegated white and purple blossoms of the Wisteria were among Louis Comfort Tiffany’s most cherished motifs, used frequently in both lamps and windows in private and public spaces. The complex Wisteria lamp, comprised of nearly 2,000 hand-cut Tiffany glass tesserae, was one of the most complicated lamps to make and one of the most popular ever produced by Tiffany Studios. In 1902, Tiffany Studios was awarded a grand prize for the Wisteria lamp at the Prima Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna, in Turin, Italy.

Today, the allure of the Wisteria lamp has only increased as collectors and museums alike compete to acquire the most striking of the extant examples. The iconic lamp has consistently garnered appeal outside of the Tiffany world and is widely considered to be a trophy to any collector of American Design.

The Cole Porter Necklace, a dazzling Aquamarine and Ruby Belt with a Buckle Necklace, designed by Fulco, Duke of Verdura, for Paul Flato, New York, circa 1935 will be offered by jewelry specialist Siegelson (New York) at TEFAF New York The composer and songwriter Cole Porter purchased this belt necklace for his wife Linda, a socialite from Louisville, Kentucky. The Porters were known as connoisseurs of fashion, jewelry, and objects of art. Jewelry Specialist Siegelson, New York. The Cole Porter Necklace is comprised of 566 rectangular brilliant-cut aquamarines and 39 oval-cut and fancy-cut rubies mounted in platinum. For this necklace, Verdura transformed an ordinary utilitarian item, a belt, into a show-stopping aquamarine and ruby necklace. This was a remarkable feat at a time when most jewelry featured flowers or geometric designs. The necklace is cleverly designed to look as though the belt were knotted, creating a piece which can be worn centered or off to the side, as it was in Vogue in 1944.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Paul Flato's expressive, daring style contrasted with the conventional diamond designs available and appealed to the height of fashionable society. His salons were frequented by Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, and Vivien Leigh, and leading men Douglas Fairbanks, Laurence Olivier, and Orson Welles. His jewelry was worn by Katherine Hepburn in Holiday, Greta Garbo in Two Faced Woman, and Rita Hayward in Blood and Sand. The necklace was bequeathed to Fred Astaire's daughter Ava. Designed, owned, and worn by American legends, this aquamarine belt with buckle necklace ranks as one of the greatest pieces of American jewelry design in the twentieth century.

Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books is among the most eminent specialists in the world in medieval books and manuscripts and will be bringing his exceptional connoisseurship to TEFAF New York. He has been an exhibitor at TEFAF Maastricht for 20 years. Concentrating on "The Age of Discover -- "Mapping the Medieval World" at the fair at the armory, his exhibit will highlight themes of exploration, voyage mapping, and the medieval discovery of new lands. 

A notable example is the Compendium (Castile, c. 1425), a unique and completely unknown manuscript containing a combination of educational texts made for the young King of Castile and Leon, Juan II (1405-1454). There are seven full-page illuminated leaves included in the manuscript, most notably a thought-provoking map, the image of which is dominated by a deep- set, inky blue, indicating the surrounding ocean and the world yet to be explored. A physical relic from the very heart of the Age of Discovery, this manuscript is likely to have been seen and handled by some of the most central figures of the age, like Juan II’s daughter, Isabella, who, with her husband Ferdinand, succeeded Juan on the Spanish throne and launched Columbus’ famous expedition across the Atlantic. This codex is the only example of its kind and within a generation of its production, the image of the world it depicts was altered almost beyond recognition. It is poised, as it were, on a precipice between the medieval and modern worlds.

A poignant counterpart to the Compendium is the historic edition of Christopher Columbus’ letter to Isabella and Ferdinand recounting his discovery of the Americas (Basel, 1494). The text is illustrated with six remarkable printed woodcuts that show a stylized view of the Bahamas, the Caribbean Islands, and their inhabitants. This may be a once in a lifetime chance to acquire such a monument to American history.

The Opening Night of TEFAF New York Fall

The beneficiaries of the Opening Night on October 21 will be The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s patient care, research, and education programs at MSK; as well as the acclaimed cultural programs produced by the Park Avenue Armory. TEFAF will release more information about the programming and partnerships with prominent and upcoming international cultural players in the next few months. Opening Night tickets will be available for purchase by calling +1 212.639.7972.

 TEFAF Maastricht

TEFAF Maastricht, the world’s leading art and antiques fair, champions the finest art dealers and experts from around the world. It was the first art fair to be run by dealers for dealers, and inspires lovers and buyers of art everywhere. TEFAF is a not-for-profit foundation acting as an expert guide for both private and institutional collectors in the global art marketplace. The 30th edition of TEFAF Maastricht will be held in the Maastricht Exhibition & Congress Centre from March 10-19, 2017.

The TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund contributes to the conservation of objects that are in museum collections and supports the sharing of knowledge about conservation with other museums and the general public.

Since 2005, TEFAF has been supporting research and international collaboration by means of a special Chair of Oncology at the research institute GROW, the School for Oncology and Developmental Biology at the Maastricht University Medical Centre.

About Artvest

Artvest Partners LLC is an independent art advisory firm that counsels private clients, museums, foundations, and Fortune 500 companies on valuations, market projections, acquisitions, dispositions, and business strategies related to art. Additionally, Artvest arranges art financing for private collectors and dealers. Since its founding in 2009 by Michael Plummer and Jeff Rabin, Artvest has guided clients from around the globe on projects in the billions of dollars. In 2014, Artvest was named as an Expert Witness for the Detroit Institute of Arts and the City of Detroit in the City’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy trial. From 2014 to 2016, Artvest has owned and managed Spring Masters, an art fair held annually in May at the historic Park Avenue Armory.

About TEFAF New York

A joint venture between TEFAF and Artvest Partners, TEFAF New York was founded in early 2016 to host two annual art fairs in New York at the Park Avenue Armory, TEFAF New York Fall and TEFAF New York Spring. Each fair will comprise over 90 leading exhibitors from the around the globe. Tom Postma Design, celebrated for its innovative work with leading museums, galleries, and art fairs, has developed designs for the fair that interplay with the spectacular spaces while giving them a lighter, contemporary look and feel. Exhibitor stands will flow throughout the Armory’s landmark building encompassing the Wade Thompson Drill Hall and extending to both the first and second floors of the Armory’s period rooms, creating a fair of unprecedented depth and impact in New York City.

The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering:

The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK), founded in 1946, is a volunteer-led organization within MSK dedicated to promoting the well-being of patients, supporting cancer research, and providing public education on the early prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer.

As the world’s oldest and largest private cancer center, MSK has devoted more than a century to advancing the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. With a passionate commitment to exceptional patient care, cutting-edge research, and superb educational programs, MSK has earned the distinction as one of the premier cancer centers worldwide. For more information, please visit www.thesocietyofmskcc.org. 

TEFAF
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