Two Old Master Works on Paper by Women Artists Join the Collection of the Toledo Museum of Art

When Megan Reddicks Pignataro, curatorial research associate of European Art at the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA), arrived in Maastricht in March 2025, she did so not only as a first-time visitor to TEFAF Maastricht — “a pilgrimage spot for curators each March” — but also as a participant in the TEFAF Curator Course, a unique program developed by TEFAF in collaboration with Maastricht University. Combining academic context with practical training at the fair, the course offers museum professionals a unique platform to immerse themselves in the art market. Through lectures, panel discussions, and on-site mentoring, participants explore art market dynamics, provenance and due diligence, TEFAF’s vetting process, negotiation, fundraising, and more.

Reddicks Pignataro also arrived at the fair with a clear directive: to explore a potential acquisition for the collection of the TMA, particularly a work on paper. As part of the course, she received an assignment: a mock acquisition proposal for a work exhibited at the fair. Reddicks Pignataro resolved, if possible, to make the exercise real. “I used that as my opportunity to say: as I’m exploring the fair, I can think about what I want to do for the mock acquisition,” Reddicks Pignataro explains. “But then, if I find the right thing, could it tie into an actual acquisition? Two for one.” When the course participants spent time at the fair ahead of its opening, Reddicks Pignataro went straight to the Works on Paper section. The museum’s upcoming major reinstallation project, set to reopen in 2027, sharpened her focus.

All of the galleries will close to undergo infrastructure improvements and will be completely transformed in their curatorial presentation. Some of them, she notes, have not had a major update in decades. “One of the things that has been very important is broadening the narrative of art history, creating a more inclusive story, which has driven our collecting in the past several years,” shares Reddicks Pignataro. She entered the fair with the intention of finding an excellent work on paper by a historic European woman artist, exploring, among others, the stand of Berlin-based art dealer Nicolaas Teeuwisse OHG. Here, a specific work offered by Teeuwisse intrigued her: a small silverpoint drawing by the Swiss artist Anna Waser (1678 – 1714), depicting the artist herself as Flora (1704).

Born in Zurich in 1678, Waser trained in painting, drawing, and engraving with Joseph Werner in Bern. By one account, she was the only female student in the workshop for about four years. At the age of 21, Waser was named court painter to Count Wilhelm Moritz von Solms-Braunfels in Hessen, specializing mainly in portraits and miniatures. Around 1702, the artist returned to Zurich to care for her ailing mother, supporting her family through commissions. Waser subsequently died at 35 after complications from a fall. Reddicks Pignataro highlights Waser’s skill as a young artist in a medium that is famously unforgiving — “there’s no correction in silverpoint” — and notes that the drawing’s quality is what caught her eye. “To see her crafting this very fine allegorical figure and also leaning into that association with herself as Flora…it expresses a confidence for such a young artist.”

With Waser’s drawing selected as the subject of her mock proposal, the real acquisition process began to align around it. During the preview day, Reddicks Pignataro walked the fair with Robert Schindler, the William Hutton Curator of European Art at TMA, and Director of Curatorial Affairs Anna Marley, guiding them through the works she had earmarked. “They said: you’re driving the ship — tell us what we’re looking at,” she recalls. The “small but mighty” drawing by Waser stood out, and they agreed it would be an excellent addition to the collection. Additionally, Reddicks Pignataro showed them an etching and aquatint by Maria Katharina Prestel (1747 – 1794) titled The Triumph of Truth over Envy (1781), also on the stand of Nicolaas Teeuwisse. Unlike the Waser, the allegory is a well-known print with examples in several US collections — but this particular impression proved to be an excellent early state.

Prestel, born Maria Katharina Höll in Nuremberg, trained with engraver and painter Johann Gottlieb Prestel, whom she married in 1772. During this time, Prestel’s work focused largely on producing reproductions of Old Master paintings and drawings in the newly established medium of aquatint. Following her separation from her husband in 1786, she moved to England, where she established herself as an independent artist under the patronage of publisher John Boydell. For Reddicks Pignataro, the print speaks “to the earlier point of her career,” the moment before that dramatic personal and professional pivot.

Reddicks Pignataro argued her case that neither artist was represented at the museum, and the Waser drawing would particularly strengthen the museum’s drawings collection. When she brought Adam Levine, TMA’s Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey Director, to the stand, he listened, looked again, and made a decision that would delight any curator, shares Reddicks Pignataro: “We’ll take both.” Reddicks Pignataro looks back fondly at her experience during the Curator Course. “The course offered this opportunity to gain in-depth behind-the-scenes knowledge of the fair, to network strategically, and to build relationships,” noting that her cohort still remains in touch today. Two moments during the course were especially memorable. Reddicks Pignataro points out the experience of walking around the fair with her course mentor Till-Holger Borchert, director of the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen. “His breadth of knowledge of art, of the fair, the conversations with nearly every person we passed — walking through the fair with him was fantastic.”

The other was the opportunity to speak with a group of TEFAF’s vetting committee members and learn, firsthand, what they look for. As an emerging scholar and curator, she highlights the importance of training her own eye, “thinking carefully about what I’m seeing and what determines quality.” At TEFAF, Reddicks Pignataro notes, the standard is exceptionally high, and “[the course] teaches you how to discern what is truly right for your home institution.” For TMA, this resulted in two works on paper joining the collection that fit a longer term vision. Both Waser’s drawing and the print by Prestel will help shape how the museum tells a broader, more inclusive story of European art as it reimagines its galleries for the future.

The TEFAF Curator Course is developed in collaboration with Maastricht University and supported by AXA XL, Global Lead Partner of TEFAF

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