London gallery Agnews will present Salvator Mundi (de Ganay version) at TEFAF, the European Fine Art Fair, which opens today at Maastricht in The Netherlands. One of the world’s most iconic images from the workshops of Leonardo da Vinci dates to c1505-15. When da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (formerly in the Cook collection) sold at Christie’s New York in 2017 to a Saudi prince for a world record price for any work of art of $450,312,512, a new stratosphere was reached in the art world. Prior to the rediscovery of the Cook Collection Leonardo in 2005, the “de Ganay” Salvator Mundi had most often been considered the best of the versions known. TEFAF Maastricht is a celebration of 7000 years of art history which this year brings together 276 dealers and galleries from 24 countries. It runs until March 19.
Jean-Henri Riesener – Roll top desk c1775-1785 at Galerie Léage
Galerie Léage of Paris will bring this roll top desk by Jean-Henri Riesener to TEFAF Maastricht which runs from March 14-19. It is among a remarkable array of historical rediscoveries, exceptional artworks, and museum-quality treasures from a diverse roster of international exhibitors. The belongs to a rare and highly distinguished group of roll top desks executed by Jean-Henri Riesener between circa 1775 and 1785, at the height of his career as ébéniste ordinaire to the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne. Conceived in the direct lineage of the revolutionary model invented by Jean-François Œben and perfected in the celebrated “bureau du roi” completed by Riesener in 1769, this type represents one of the most sophisticated achievements of French cabinetmaking under Louis XVI.
As a cornerstone of the global art world, TEFAF Maastricht presents an unrivalled spectrum of quality and expertise across the fine and decorative arts. The fair is a celebration of 7,000 years of art history, set against the historic and picturesque city of Maastricht. This year, it brings together 276 dealers and galleries from 24 countries across five continents, offering an unparalleled experience for collectors and connoisseurs alike.
As a cornerstone of the global art world, TEFAF Maastricht presents an unrivalled spectrum of quality and expertise across the fine and decorative arts. The fair is a celebration of 7,000 years of art history, set against the historic and picturesque city of Maastricht. From March 14-19 it brings together 276 dealers and galleries from 24 countries across five continents, offering an unparalleled experience for collectors and connoisseurs alike.
Galerie Canesso at Stand 360 will show this painting by Giuseppe Bonito. It depicts a workshop scene in which the artist, poised at his easel like a performer, demonstrates his craft to an attentive audience. The artist holds a silverpoint or crayon holder and a drawing featuring a reclining Hercules, possibly referencing the Farnese statue, as a guide for his work. The composition, set within a well-appointed studio with hanging earthenware and a large lamp, suggests an important commission, with the principal patron highlighted in white and yellow.
Vincent van Gogh – Still Life with Two Sacks and a Bottle
TEFAF Maastricht 2025 has successfully concluded its 38th edition, reporting robust sales across all collecting categories and reaffirming its status as the world’s premier fair for art, antiques and design. Over 50,000 visitors, including international collectors, connoisseurs and institutions, converged on Maastricht to acquire the finest works spanning over 7,000 years of art history.
Attendees included representatives from prestigious institutions including: The Art Institute of Chicago; Château de Chantilly; Cleveland Museum of Art; Fine Art Museums of San Francisco; Hong Kong Palace Museum; Louvre; Louvre Abu Dhabi; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Modern Art, Paris; New Museum, New York; Musée d’Orsay; National Gallery, London; National Gallery of Canada; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Suermondt Ludwig Museum; Rijksmuseum; Toledo Museum of Art; Van Gogh Museum, Zayed National Museum and many others. Among many sales the US firm of MS Rau antiques sold this van Gogh Still Life with Two Sacks and a Bottle to a private collector. The asking price was $4.75 million.
Centuries of discrimination cannot be overturned in a blink but as the search for overlooked artists gathers pace the small steps being taken at TEFAF might herald a giant leap for womankind.
Abandon by Camille Claudel at TEFAF.
In Maastricht next month The European Fine Art Fair will highlight the work of women artists. This trend is firmly established and unstoppable. New discoveries are waiting to be made.
We know the big names like Claude Lalanne, Louise Bourgeois and Hilma af Klint. But how about Camille Claudel, Emma Soyer, Gjertrud Hals, Marie Bracquemond, Hilla von Rebay, Juliana Seraphim, Bianca Boni, Hannelore Baron and Sheila Hicks. Many of them are relatively obscure, largely by virtue of their gender. Their art is about to be brought to a wider, global audience as all of them will feature at Maastricht.
Camille Claudel (1864-1943) is a renowned sculptor but her work is little represented in major international institutions, especially when compared to that of her master, Rodin. Galerie Malaquais of Paris will highlight her work at TEFAF.
The Eye by Juliana Seraphim (1934-2005) at TEFAF.
The London gallery Richard Saltoun will show work by Juliana Seraphim, a Palestinian artist and a leading member of the Middle Eastern art scene from the 1960’s to her death in 2005. Seraphim is known for her unique Surrealist style and iconography that engaged deeply with gender struggle, the liberation of female sexuality and agency, nature and spirituality.
Masque c1928 by Hilla von Rebay at TEFAF.
The visionary artist and creator Hilla von Rebay (1890-1967) was part of the first wave of abstraction to sweep across the US. She is best known for her role in the creation of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York which she founded and directed as curator. Graphic work by the artist, developed in parallel with her curatorial role, is now being rediscovered and recognised as a major influence on the American art scene, both formally and theoretically. This art will be featured by Galerie Raphael Durazzo of Paris.
The name Emma Soyer is unfamiliar to most museum goers today but she was as well known as any of her contemporaries from the mid 1830’s to the 1840’s before her tragically early death. According to Colnaghi: Elliott Fine Art of London, who will showcase her art, very few artists have fallen as dramatically from public and art historical awareness as Soyer.
The Two Inseparables by Emma Soyer at TEFAF.
No less than nine major figures of modern and contemporary art – Ella Bergmann-Michel, Hannelore Baron, Louise Bourgeois, Pierette Bloch, Marcel Cahn, Sonia Delauney, Sheila Hicks, Vera Molnar and the American feminist artist Mira Schor – will be highlighted by Galerie Zlotowski of Paris at a booth entirely dedicated to women artists.
Galerie Pauline Pavec will unveil unseen works by Marie Bracquemond, who ranks alongside Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt among the greatest figures of Impressionism, at TEFAF. The selection of art by women at the fair ranges from Roman miniatures to contemporary sculpture, Modern masters and Palestinian Surrealism.
The broad ranging European Fine Art Fair at Maastricht enjoys an unrivalled appeal as a destination for collectors, curators, art market professionals and art lovers. From March 15-20 it will feature more than 270 prestigious dealers from 22 countries in a not to be missed fair with some of the finest works currently on the market spanning 7000 years from antiquity to the present day.
Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian – Madonna and Child with St. Mary Magdalene
Not every fair boasts a Titian but there is one among the highlights at TEFAF Maastricht which runs from March 15-20. Trinity Fine Art of London will bring this painting by the Venetian master of a Madonna and Child with St. Mary Magdalene dated to around 1555-1560. It is being brought to light after being hidden from public view in various private collections for more than two centuries. The picture is remarkable for its sophisticated composition and emotional depth; the superb quality of the brushwork and the excellent condition of the painted surface give this picture the edge over other versions of the same subject hanging in some of the world’s leading museums, such as the Hermitage, the Gallerie degli Uf izi, and the Museo di Capodimonte. Fascinating details relating to Titian’s studio practices were revealed when the painting was X-rayed in 2024, in this case demonstrating how Titian modi ied and changed the composition
This 17th century Safavid Mirror was acquired from Sao Roque by the Aga Khan Foundation in Toronto for around €200,000 at TEFAF Maastricht.
Major institutional sales, seven figures sales and a growth in international private collectors were notched up in Maastricht this month. Over eight days nearly 50,000 visitors flocked to The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) to see 7000 years of art history displayed by 270 exhibitors from 22 countries across ancient art, antique furniture, paintings, modern and contemporary art and design and works on paper. With 300 museum directors and 650 curators attending the emerging trends noted were juxtaposing the old and the new and huge interest in female artists, cultural heritage and preservation. Displays of ancient art on contemporary furniture and delicate porcelain contemporary flowers on 17th century Delftware fragments sold to private collectors for six figure sums. The Rijksmuseum acquired the only signed painting by Gesina ter Borch (1631-1690).
The asking price was €4.5 million for Van Gogh’s Head of an old peasant woman with a White Cap at New Orlean’s based gallery M S Rau, sold for an undisclosed sum. Koopman, which sold the personal seal of Lord Nelson to a private collector, reported that clients were aggressively chasing the top objects. The Aga Khan Foundation in Toronto acquired a 17th century Safavid mirror for €200,000. Against a background of multiple seven figure sales an insiders collecting guide drew specific attention to objects priced at under €20,000. This is just a flavour from a fair which showed the international market to be in a state of rude good health.
Tête de Paysanne à la Coiffe Blanche by Van Gogh was sold by New Orleans based M S Rau for several million euro at TEFAF.
The starting point for the Sarah Myerscough Gallery exhibit at TEFAF Maastricht, which opens to the public today and runs until March 14, is monoliths. Place one in the landscape and the surroundings are changed. Structures like Stonehenge or the metal monoliths of Utah signal other worldly and mystic influences. Myerscoughs Monolith exhibition presents work that supports a magical view of the world while being at the same time grounded in the expertise and innovation of contemporary designers. Pictured here is Conical 2024 by John Makepeace, made of oak, ripple sycamore, bog oak, magnolia and cotton velvet. Widely regarded as the world’s premier fair for fine arts, antiques and design the 37th edition of TEFAF has brought 270 prestigious dealers from 22 countries to Maastricht.
Lavinia Fontana – Portrait of Antonietta Gonzales, 1592T
This re-discovered portait of Antonietta Gonzales by Lavinia Fontana is at Rob Smeets Gallery of Geneva on Stand 348 at TEFAF Maastricht which runs until March 14. Like her father and siblings Antonietta suffered from hypertrichosis or werewolf syndrome, a genetic disease that causes invasive hair growth. Her father Petrus Gonzales was offered to Henri II, King of France, as a gift for his coronation and worked at the royal court under the title Monsieur Sauvage. His eventual marriage to Catherine Raffelin, Antonietta’s mother, is believed to be the basis for the story of Beauty and the Beast.
Lavinia Fontana, regarded as the first professional woman artist in European art history, is able to capture the tenderness of the ten year old Antonietta with a clear empathy between artist and sitter.
The programming schedule for TEFAF Maastricht includes Conversations on Conservation on March 9 at 3 pm. This will focus on the conservation of Ludovico Mazzolino’s (c. 1480–c. 1530) masterpiece, The Crossing of the Red Sea (1521). The National Gallery of Ireland has received funding from TEFAF to restore the work, which has been part of its collection for over a century. The painting, in its current fragile state, cannot be safely displayed. The Crossing of the Red Sea requires extensive conservation efforts. The National Gallery of Ireland will collaborate with experts in Mazzolino’s work to better understand his artistic practice so that this rare large-scale painting can be sensitively restored and made accessible to the visiting public.
TEFAF will run from March 9-14 at the MECC Maastricht. It will be preceeded by invitation only days on March 7 and 8.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for January 16, 2024).
