In its continuing efforts to remain fresh and relevant, TEFAF has in recent years encouraged the world’s leading contemporary galleries to exhibit at the fair. This edition also saw the event expand its Showcase section of emerging gallerists from five participants to 10.
With its dark green walls, cascading dried flowers and mysterious modernist still lifes, the booth of the young New York private dealer Ambrose Naumann was the obvious standout. “I wanted to make a splash. This is where the action happens,” said Naumann, who was showing an unsettling still life, “The White Cloth,” made in 1929 by the Berlin painter Rudolf Hacke, priced at $195,000.
And how were sales? “Ask me at the end of the fair,” said Naumann, laughing.
The pace of sales was altogether quicker in TEFAF’s 54-exhibitor Modern section, where powerhouse contemporary galleries White Cube and Lisson were participating for a second time. The Tim Van Laere Gallery, based in Antwerp, Belgium, which represents young rising-star artists, was making its debut. “We have a lot of artists with waiting lists,” said Elke Segers, a partner and director at the gallery, who pointed out recent paintings by Ben Sledsen, Bram Demunter and Kati Heck that all found buyers. Later in the day, the tennis champion Venus Williams was seen browsing the booth.
Though the visitor demographic at TEFAF is predominantly white and middle-aged, with hardly a sneaker in sight, there was also a younger, more diverse audience in attendance on Thursday. Aarti Lohia, a prominent Indian collector, said she was drawn to the fair because of “the mix of old and new,” adding: “When you look at different things you train your eyes. It’s not meant to be edgy. Contemporary art fairs have become same-y, and there isn’t the time to process the art you look at. Everyone’s in a rush.”
Gradually, it seems, a new generation of collectors is beginning to appreciate what TEFAF Maastricht has to offer. The challenge for the venerable fair is to get them to start actually buying the old stuff.
