Oiseau Lunaire by Miro from 1945.
A sculpture by the Spanish artist Joan Miró sold within hours of the opening of TEFAF Maastricht for $5 million. Oiseau lunaire, a 30cm high olive wood work dating from 1945, was sold to a private collector. It was part of an entire room devoted to Miró by Landau Fine Art of Montreal. One of the earliest known sculptures by Miro it has not been seen in public since 1973.
Dealers reported good sales across all sections of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) with modern and contemporary art, antiquities and Asian art performing particularly well. Over 30,000 people visited for the opening weekend. No less than 125 private jets landed at Maastricht-Aachen airport. Visitors included the World Chinese Collectors Conference from Shanghai with a group of 21 people, a party from the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, USA, and Wolfgang Heubisch, Minister of Culture in the Bavarian state government in Germany. TEFAF runs until Sunday, March 27.