All posts tagged: TEFAF

TEFAF New York 2026 Opens With Strong Crowds and Optimistic Dealers

TEFAF New York 2026 Opens With Strong Crowds and Optimistic Dealers

Published by José Betancourt

By 4 p.m. on Thursday, the aisles of TEFAF New York at the Park Avenue Armory should have started thinning out. Instead, dealers were still pinned into conversations, collectors crowded around vitrines, and the low roar that had echoed though the building since the doors opened for its VIP day at 11 a.m. had barely let up. “This is probably the best TEFAF I’ve seen for a long time,” dealer Sean Kelly said after making several laps around the fair. “People are really, really enjoying this thing. It’s as if, after years of keeping our heads down and trying to get through the depression the Trump administration has forced of the country, everyone’s decided start enjoying themselves again.”  Related Articles That sense of momentum hovered over the entire fair. TEFAF, which runs through Tuesday, May 19, has always occupied a different lane from the rest of New York’s May fairs: the lighting is warmer, the champagne more effervescent, the pace slower. And, this year’s edition also arrived with a sharper sense of confidence than the …

Dealers at TEFAF Maastricht Report Robust Sales

Dealers at TEFAF Maastricht Report Robust Sales

Published by José Betancourt

Despite global unrest and a continually worsening conflict in the Middle East, dealers surveyed by ARTnews in their stands at the TEFAF art fair in Maastricht, when willing to discuss sales, were more than pleased. Even if, as one dealer observed, collectors from the Middle East may have been unable to travel. (Another quipped, “There’s email. There’s WhatsApp.”) The show must go on. “The caliber of collectors is extraordinary,” said first-time exhibitor Alison Jacques, of London, who noted a greater international attendance than she expected. By the end of day one on Thursday, the dealer had placed works by Eileen Agar and Sheila Hicks. Also on offer are pieces by Pacita Abad, Ana Mendieta, and Dorothea Tanning, among others. Related Articles Jorn Günther, a rare books dealer from Basel who has exhibited at TEFAF for thirty years, said this year was his best. The fair is marked by luxurious wide aisles, and expansive stands that are built out at an incredibly ambitious level by the dealers, this year numbering 277 from 24 countries. In hopes …

Van Gogh Museum Acquires Only Third Painting by Female Artist at TEFAF

Van Gogh Museum Acquires Only Third Painting by Female Artist at TEFAF

Published by Jenni Sidey

At TEFAF Maastricht, the Van Gogh Museum acquired Virginie Demont-Breton’s L’homme est en mer, a painting from 1887–88 that now counts as only the third painting by a woman in the institution’s collection, according to Artnet News. As reported by senior editor Kate Brown, the painting of a woman looking longingly while holding an infant—presumably pining for the titular man at sea—was purchased by the Amsterdam museum with public funds dedicated to acquisitions for a price between €500,000 and €1 million ($543,000 and $1.1 million). The sale on TEFAF’s opening day was brokered by Gallery 19C from Dallas-Forth Worth, where the work had been in a private collection for 20 years. Related Articles “Van Gogh had seen Demont-Breton’s painting, which was made in between 1887 and 1889, reproduced in black and white in a magazine about French salon paintings and he was so inspired by it that he copied it,” according to Artnet. “It is one of the only paintings by a woman artist that he is known to have emulated.” About the work, Lisa …

TEFAF Revs Up for Its Maastricht Edition, Undaunted by Global Unrest

TEFAF Revs Up for Its Maastricht Edition, Undaunted by Global Unrest

Published by Jenni Sidey

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, the ARTnews newsletter about the art market and beyond. Sign up here to receive it every Wednesday. New York Old Master prints and drawings dealer David Tunick recently tallied up exactly how much time he has spent attending the TEFAF art fair at the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre in the Netherlands, about two hours from Amsterdam. With a vaunted selection and vetting process, TEFAF is known as one of the top events of its kind worldwide.  Related Articles “I’m just beginning my 60th year in the art business and my 26th year at TEFAF for two weeks or more, so I’ve spent a full year of my life here,” Tunick said, adding, “It’s always a pleasure and a privilege.” Established in 1988 and organized by the European Fine Art Foundation (which also began organizing a New York edition in 2016), the fair this year features 276 dealers from 24 countries, offering treasures from over 7,000 years of art history. Unlike most fairs, TEFAF Maastricht stretches out over a full six days, …

TEFAF New York returns with 88 Exhibitors from 14 countries

TEFAF New York returns with 88 Exhibitors from 14 countries

Published by Jenni Sidey

TEFAF New York will return to the Park Avenue Armory from May 15 to 19, 2026, with 88 exhibitors presenting modern and contemporary art, design, jewelry, and antiquities. An invitation-only preview will take place on May 14. The 2026 edition will bring together dealers from 14 countries across four continents. The roster includes nine new exhibitors and 78 returning participants, with four galleries rejoining after an absence. “The heart of TEFAF New York lies with its exhibitors,” Leanne Jagtiani, Director of TEFAF New York, told ARTnews. “In 2026, we’re proud to present a compelling lineup of dealers, both longstanding participants and an exciting group of newcomers, who represent the best across disciplines. From internationally celebrated modern and contemporary art, iconic design, cultural antiquities, and high jewelry, this year’s edition will further strengthen the fair as a leading platform for connoisseurship and discovery.” Related Articles Among the larger international galleries set to participate are Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Pace Gallery, David Zwirner, White Cube, Thaddaeus Ropac, Gladstone, Lévy Gorvy Dayan, and Skarstedt. They will be joined …

Rare Greek Funerary Sculpture Priced North of 0,000 Heads to TEFAF

Rare Greek Funerary Sculpture Priced North of $600,000 Heads to TEFAF

Published by Jenni Sidey

Most young women in ancient Greece were married early in their teenage years, and they were expected to produce children as a matter of public interest. So the death of a young woman of marriagable age was seen as a loss not only to her loved ones, but also to society. A rare ancient Greek artwork headed to the TEFAF art fair memorializes the loss of one such young woman. On offer from London gallery David Aaron, Stele of Medeia, from the Attic region, dates to 375-350 BCE. The piece is tagged at £450,000 (about $615,000); there is already significant interest from a major US museum, says the gallery.  Related Articles “It’s a masterfully, beautifully sculpted stele,” said director Salomon Aaron, adding, “It has a lot of its original pigment, which is fantastic.” Shown in profile in high relief in front of a doorway, the woman raises her right hand to her shoulder, her eyes downcast. She is identified by name in an inscription in the architrave, a decorative moulding around the door. She wears …