The little Dutch city of Maastricht (population about 125,000), boasts an incredible masterpiece-to-resident ratio each March, when the TEFAF fair comes to town. This year, 276 dealers from 24 countries have brought many thousands of objects, arranged in sections devoted to paintings, antiques, jewelry, modern and contemporary art, design, ancient art, arts of Africa and Oceania, and more.
Speaking to ARTnews ahead of the fair, which opened Thursday and runs a full six days, New York Old Master dealer David Tunick likened TEFAF to “a museum for sale”; indeed prices range as high as $9.85 million, for a Pierre Auguste Renoir at New Orleans gallery M.S. Rau. Tunick’s impression was borne out in a day of hobnobbing with dealers at the crowded fair, where groups with financial institutions like Bank of America and museum directors including Max Hollein of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art were prowling the aisles, feasting on oysters and sushi at the various bars, and competing for busy dealers’ attention.
Following is a subjective list of just some of the stunning pieces on offer.
