STRONG SALES AFFIRM TEFAF’S IMPORTANCE IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACEThe overall results at TEFAF Maastricht 2010 confirms the belief that the art market has remained robust during the economic crisis. The Fair’s importance to the market cannot be underestimated. This year’s TEFAF Art Market Report states that in 2009 just over 50% of all sales in the global marketplace took place in the EU and that 55% of all sales are generated by dealers. TEFAF Maastricht provides a dynamic forum attracting 263 dealers from 17 countries and collectors from around the world. The visitor figures for the 2010 Fair was 73,073, representing an increase of 7.75%.
Many international collectors travelled to the fair by private jet. Maastricht/Aachen Airport reported 171 private aircraft landing during the course of the Fair with 82 planes arriving in time for the Private View. US collectors, both private and institutional, were back in force and their re-found confidence was reflected in sales. A leading dealer also commented on the increasing importance of European collectors, who over the last decade have grown both in number and spending power, describing them as ‘knowledgeable and decisive’.
TEFAF Maastricht is often described as a museum where everything is for sale and exhibiting dealers appreciate the fact that the Fair is taken so seriously by museums worldwide. Representatives from more than 150 museums and institutions from over 17 countries visited the Fair and museum sales and reservations were reported throughout the Fair.
The new section TEFAF on Paper was very well received. It was beautifully presented and showcased a wide range of works on paper from prints, drawings and photographs to books and Japanese screens. TEFAF Journal
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TEFAF Journal brings you English news about the latest developments at TEFAF. TEFAF journal was launched in 2008 by Chapeau! Magazine and L1 TV.
The show is broadcasted at the biggest hotels in Maastricht, in several public places such as the Town Hall of Maastricht, the theatre and at several locations at the Maastricht Exhibition & Congress Centre.
TEFAF SETS AN EXAMPLE FOR EUROPE - EUROPEAN COMMISION VICE-PRESIDENT
TEFAF Maastricht has set an example that the rest of Europe should follow, said Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission, during a visit to what she called “the world’s leading art and antiques fair”. Ms Kroes praised the Fair on Friday 12 March 2010, the day after a record 10,500 people attended the private view where dealers reported good business.
“The European Fine Art Fair can proudly call itself the world’s leading art and antiques fair,” Ms Kroes told the Information Communications Technology Business Summit in Maastricht. “What is especially relevant to my remarks today is that TEFAF has continued to grow through the crisis. TEFAF has grown when other fairs are cutting back or shutting down.
"There are lessons here that others in Europe can copy. TEFAF adapts to its circumstances: adding new sections, changing focus, refusing to be complacent. TEFAF has decided: ‘The world is changing, so we are changing too’."
The success story of TEFAF, continued at the private view of the 23rd edition of the Fair. A record 10,500 invited guests attended the private view. This was an increase of 11% on 2009. Dealers reported good business. Many
private and institutional collectors in all fields from around the globe visited the Fair.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington bought the newly discovered Winter Landscape with Skaters painted by Adam van Breen in 1611 from John Mitchell Fine Paintings of London for €910,000. The painting is one of the earliest known works by Van Breen.
Antiquities dealer Rupert Wace Ancient Art from
London sold a Roman bronze statuette of Aphrodite wearing a silver diadem from the 1st century AD to a French private museu
m. Other purchases included two pieces bought by German and American institutions from Julius Böhler of Starnberg and Renaissance cutlery, sold to an American museum by Kunstkammer Georg Laue of
Munich.
“The geographical distribution of wealth has also worked in favour of the art market. While most of the older Western economies are currently in recession, many of the new art markets are still showing positive growth, with China and India at rates of 9% and 6% respectively in 2009.”
The research follows a major study sponsored by TEFAF in 2007/08, The International Art Market: A Survey of Europe in a Global Context, which analysed the global art trade from a macroeconomic perspective from 2002 through 2006.