I have received hundreds of thousands of press releases in my years of writing about art and the art industry, but one has always stood out to me as exemplary.
Sent in 2011 by the European Fine Art Foundation, this release provided incredible (and incredibly granular) details about the effort that went into staging its trademark event earlier that year, the famously luxurious TEFAF fair in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The number of bottles of champagne served at the preview? 1,800. Total canapés at the preview: 150,000! Private jets landing at the Maastricht-Aachen airport? A cool 154.
It was a fascinating look at what it takes to produce a high-end fair—and something of a show of force.
In the aftermath of the most recent TEFAF, which closed earlier this month, I asked its organizers to furnish some of the same numbers they trumpeted 13 years ago, and they were kind enough to oblige. To their contributions, I added a bit of my own reporting. One intriguing takeaway: The number of canapés at the preview has dropped since 2011 (though I did not hear anyone complain).
Forthwith, a rundown of TEFAF Maastricht, by the numbers, from a total count of museum directors in attendance to the (surprisingly affordable) price of a Salvador Dalí–themed cocktail.
THE FAIR ITSELF
Size: 333,681 square feet
Workers who built it: 250 carpenters, painters, fabric workers, floor installers, and electricians
Hours it took: 50,000 hours
Exhibitors: 270
Countries represented: 22
THE AMENITIES
Stems of flowers: 75,000
Canapés: 80,000
Restaurants and bars within the fair: 11
My favorite: The Cocktail and Croqueteria Bar
Price of the “Persistence of Time – Salvador Dalí” cocktail: €15 (about $16.20)
What is in a “Persistence of Time” cocktail: Campari, gin, and sweet vermouth. (It’s an aged Negroni.)
VISITORS
Total number: 50,000
Population of Maastricht: About 123,000
Museum directors visiting: 300
Current and former directors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: 2 (Max Hollein and Thomas P. Campbell, who now leads the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)
Curators: 650
Patron groups: 40
THE VETTING PROCESS
Vetters: 213
Countries represented by the vetters: Approximately 17
Institutes represented by vetters: Approximately 126
Vetting Committees: 32
Hours Vetting: 4,260
LUCID MOTORS (TEFAF’s “OFFICIAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTNER”)
Shuttles: 705
Drivers: 20
Distance driven: Over 9,300 miles (roughly the distance from New York to Singapore)
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