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1975 |
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The bi-annual “Pictura Fine Art Fair” opened in Maastricht’s Eurohal with 28 international exhibitors. Pictura specialised in Old Master paintings and medieval sculptures. |
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1978 |
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Due to the success of the Pictura fair, the “Antiqua” fair made its debut at the Eurohal in Maastricht with 42 exhibiting international antique dealers and antiquarian booksellers. |
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1979 |
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“Antiqua” changed its name to “Antique Maestricht”. |
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1982 |
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“Antique Maestricht” became “De Antiquairs International”. The fair moved to the Geulhal in Valkenburg |
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1985 |
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De Antiquairs International and Pictura merged under the name “Antiquairs International & Pictura Fine Art Fair”, an annual fair at Maastricht’s Eurohal. |
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1987 |
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The fair featured “Museade: the Virgin of Evegnée”, an exhibition of 27 important works from 4 museums in Liège, Aachen and Maastricht, which outlined the history of Roman and Gothic sculpture produced in the Rhine and Meuse regions. |
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1988 |
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Antiquairs International & Pictura Fine Art Fair became “The European Fine Art Fair” and was relocated in the newly built Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC). A new section devoted to textile arts, entitled Textura, joined the established Antiques and Pictura sections. This was celebrated by a special exhibition entitled ‘Carpets in 17th century Dutch Paintings’. Number of visitors: 17,672. Number of exhibitors: 97. |
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1989 |
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The European Fine Art Foundation was established in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The Foundation took over the organisation of the fair and added a Music & Lecture Programme. |
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1990 |
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The special exhibition ‘Vincent un Chemin Dificile’ was organised to coincide with the Van Gogh Year in The Netherlands. Four Van Gogh pen and ink drawings were sold at the fair. |
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1991 |
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A new section for Modern & Contemporary painting was created. Number of exhibitors: 135; 38 of whom were new. |
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1992 |
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A new section, called La Haute Joaillerie du Monde, was added to the fair. We welcomed 35 new exhibitors and attracted 35,000 visitors. |
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1993 |
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This year the fair was divided into 7 sections. New sections added were Books, Manuscripts & Maps and Classical Antiquities. Exhibitor numbers reached 158. |
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1994 |
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The memorable year in which The European Fine Art Fair hosted ‘Treasures from The Hermitage St Petersburg’. Visitor numbers exceeded 60,000. |
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1995 |
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The fair received a face lift with the introduction of a new floor plan and uniform presentation of the stands. The 20th-Century Art section was reorganised, with the introduction of more international dealers. |
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1996 |
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The fair changed it’s name to “TEFAF Maastricht”. “Portrait of a Young Man” by Rembrandt was sold at the fair for $4.8 million dollars. |
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1997 |
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There was a substantial increase in exhibitors from France. Cooperation with the city of Maastricht and the surrounding Euregio area, made the exhibition “Ivories from the 11th to the 14th centuries” possible. |
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1998 |
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A second Euregio exhibition of Roman archaeology from this international area was organised. Exhibitor numbers increased to 175 from 14 countries. The number of visitors reached almost 65,000. |
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1999 |
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TEFAF Maastricht decided to locate a huge catering terrace in the newly built Westhal of the MECC. Exhibitor numbers increased to 183. |
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2000 |
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TEFAF took the initiative to include “Good Title” in addition to Authentication and Quality as part of the vetting process by using the services of the Art Loss Register (ALR). The ALR is a central internationally recognised database with images where ultimately all stolen or lost works of art or antiques will be registered provided that they are uniquely identifiable. For the first time TEFAF launched an independent study about the size and structure of the European art and antiques market. |
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2001 |
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The design of the fair was changed radically. The Dutch sculptor, architect and designer Tom Postma was responsible for the overall concept, which is modern with clear classical references. The number of exhibitors exceeded 200 for the first time, while the 76,044 visitors was a record too. |
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2002 |
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TEFAF launched a second study about the European Art Market, conducted by Kusin & Company ( New York). The fair was extended by one day in order to spread the number of visitors during the first days of the fair and this was successful. About the same number of visitors as in 2001 came to the fair, which lasted 11 instead of 10 days. |
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2003 |
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The 2002 Art Market Report concluded that one of the causes of Europe’s declining market share compared to the USA is the complicated system of VAT, established under the European Union’s harmonisation programme. TEFAF, supported by Ernst & Young, undertook a new study in order to examine this more in detail. Visitors: 64,660. |
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2004 |
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The entrance to the MECC building was completely renovated and the Westhal, with the large catering court, media and sponsor pavilions, received a face-lift. TEFAF published a collection of essays in which well-known experts discussed the interaction between the art market and other areas of culture. AXA Art, a world leading specialist in fine art insurance, became TEFAF’s new principal sponsor for the next 3 years. Visitors: 75,522. |
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2005 |
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The fair got a dramatic new look. Fair architect Tom Postma was joined by British exhibition designer, David Bentheim to create a classic, elegant stand design. The fair hosted a unique exhibition of 35 masterpieces from the Detroit Institute of Arts, five of which were originally bought at TEFAF. Three very rare Amati violins from the Palazzo Comunale in Cremona were exhibited, to tie in with the Amati 500 jubilee that was celebrated in Maastricht during the fair. TEFAF published a study on Droit de Suite in February 2005. TEFAF decided to install a special TEFAF University Chair for cancer research at the University of Maastricht. The fair attracted 77,828 visitors. Despite the exceptionally bad weather during the first 4 days, this was a record. |
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2006 |
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TEFAF enlarged its floor plan by 1,000 m2 in order to improve visitor comfort and further strengthen the range of art, particularly contemporary and Asian art. Twenty-eight new exhibitors brought the total number of exhibitors to 218. All the catering areas were redesigned and two Parisian-style cafés and a brasserie were added. The new house style of the catalogue marked the start of the new decorative theme of the fair. The overall visitor figure of 84,020 was a record for the fair and an increase of 8% on 2005. On March 16th TEFAF welcomed its millionth visitor in its 19 years existence. |
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2007 |
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Over the past twenty years TEFAF had been transformed from a comparatively modest show into one of the most important events in the international art market calendar. However visitor numbers could have threatened the fair's reputation for quality and exclusivity and so entrance prices were raised, which reduced the number of visitors to the fair to 70,842, a reduction of 15%. Many exhibitors commented that the lower visitors number had made the fair more comfortable and the atmosphere more conducive to buying. TEFAF published a new Art Market Report, The Art Fair as an Economic Force, compiled by Jeremy Eckstein Associates. The entrance area to the fair was completely refurbished. AXA Art extended its principal sponsorship for a further three years. |
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2008 |
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TEFAF launched a new report on the development of the international art market, The International Art Market, A Survey of Europe in a Global Context, compiled by Dr Clare McAndrew. The report was based on an extensive international survey of dealers and information from auction houses and databases. TEFAF Showcase was a new initiative at the Fair, aiming to give younger dealers the invaluable experience of being part of a major international fine art event, and at the same time to give TEFAF’s visitors and existing participants an impression of some of the most exciting emerging galleries and dealers of today. TEFAF swapped its traditional tulips for a spectacular display of 175,000 anemones. In total 73,406 people visited the Fair. |
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2009 |
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A record number of 239 dealers exhibited at TEFAF. An entire new section called TEFAF Design brought in leading international specialists in 20th century design and applied arts and increased the number of sections to seven. TEFAF Design also featured an important loan exhibition from the collection of the Museum Jachthuis St Hubertus in the Netherlands . Globalisation and the Art Market, the latest in a series of major reports commissioned by TEFAF, contained an in-depth analysis of some of the emerging and most dynamic art market centres around the world including China , India , Russia and the Middle East. This study, prepared by Dr Clare McAndrew, looked at how these art markets had developed over the last five years. It also examined the past and possible future effects of the current world economic climate on international art buying. The fair attracted 67,818 visitors. |
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2010 |
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TEFAF had a record number of 263 exhibitors from 17 countries, introducing China and Uruguay. A new initiative was TEFAF on Paper, a ninth section devoted entirely to works on paper. TEFAF on Paper, covering 880 square meters, occupied the upstairs hall where TEFAF successfully launched TEFAF Design at the 2009 Fair. TEFAF Design moved downstairs, occupying 550 square metres. TEFAF launched a new Art Market Report shortly before the 2010 Fair. Compiled by Dr Clare McAndrew, it looks in detail at how the European art market has fared during the international economic recession from 2007-2009. Visitor numbers exceeded 73,000. |
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