TEFAF Boasts of Art Market Recovery

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Mar 23rd 2010 at 6:01PM

Plenty of art moved at TEFAF Maastricht 2010, and collectors were willing to deal with the prices ... and enjoy their stays in style. According to a statement by TEFAF, many international collectors took private jets to Maastricht/Aachen Airport, where 171 private aircraft landed during the fair. Eighty-two of them touched down in time for the Private View on March 11, 2010. U.S. collectors were back in the game, and the Europeans amped up the intensity, too.

TEFAF attracted 263 dealers and representatives from more than 150 museums from more than 17 countries, which contributed to the robust marketplace (along with the change in global economic circumstances , of course). TEFAF on Paper, a new section at the fair, featured a wide range of prints, drawings and photographs, among others. Parisian dealer Tanakaya moved two early prints, very rare, by Hashiguchi Goyô, entitled Kami sukero Onna, 1921 and Keshô no Onna, 1918. They sold for €32,000 and €30,000 respectively.

Over in the antiquities section, dealer Rupert Wace of London moved an Egyptian Wood Mummy Mask at an asking price of €150,000 (final price not announced) to a private collector. He also sold a Roman bronze statuette of Aphrodite wearing a silver diadem. The piece was from the first century and is headed for a private museum in France.

Modern Art boasted strong sales, according to TEFAF. Gallery Thomas of Munich sold "Walking Couple" by Wassily Kandinsky for around €400,000 and an oil on panel painting by August Macke entitled "Two Riding Persons" for around €250,000.

Ben Janssens, TEFAF's chairman, observed, "TEFAF has a solid base of European and American collectors, which in the last two years has enabled it to stand the test of the economic downturn and this year we have seen the emergence of a significant number of the international collectors affirming the Fair's place in the international arena."

Tags: art collecting, art collection, art collector, art fair, art galleries, Art Gallery, art market, kandinsky, maastricht, private jets, tefaf