Thomas Galbraith, artnet’s director of global strategy, is interviewed at the Fair

The European Fine Art Fair, or TEFAF, is currently in full swing in Maastricht. Now in its 26th year, the fair, which opened for previews on March 14, runs through this Sunday, March 24. Regarded as the world’s leading art fair, and unparalleled in its scope and quality, TEFAF offers attendees a dazzling array of museum-quality works, ranging from antiquities to the 21st century.

TEFAF Entrance Hall: Joana Vasconcelos, Mary Poppins, 2010

Presenting 260 galleries from 20 countries, the fair is expected to draw 70,000 visitors over its 10-day period. Attendees this year will be welcomed by a variety ofTEFAF highlights, including an exhibition of Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) drawings, the second annual TEFAF Art Symposium, and a monumental installation by Joana Vasconcelos (French, b.1971).

Henry Moore, Reclining Figure: Cloak, 1967, Trinity House, London, UK

Van Gogh’s Drawings: Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum offers an exceptional opportunity to view works on paper by the master Dutch post-Impressionist. These works, loaned from the Amsterdam museum, are rarely exhibited due to their fragility. The 18 drawings include preliminary studies for paintings as well as finished works that showcase Van Gogh’s experimentation with technique and subject matter.

Marlborough Fine Art Ltd. stand at TEFAF 2013

This year’s TEFAF Art Symposium, entitled Rising Stars in the Art World: Emerging Markets and Top–Performing Artists, was held on March 15. The symposium, which brought together a panel of artists, collectors, and art market experts–including artnet’s very own director of global strategy, Thomas Galbraith–opened with a review of the global art market in 2012, highlighting emerging markets in China and Brazil. The conference then moved onto presentations on the theme of top performing artists that dominate the market, which were followed by a panel discussion.

Flowers welcome visitors to TEFAF

Vasconcelos, a speaker on the symposium panel, also showcased her immense hanging installation, Mary Poppins (2010). Created from a variety of hand–made crochet, found fabrics, and mass–produced objects, the work’s six elongated arms stretch, chandelier–like, at TEFAF’s entrance. Mary Poppins was also displayed last summer at Versailles, where Vasconcelos was the first woman and youngest artist to participate in the Palace’s Contemporary Art program, following artists such as Jeff Koons (American, b.1955) and Takashi Murakami (Japanese, b.1962).

Alfred Sisley, Cabanes au bord du Loing, 1896, Alon Zakaim Fine Art, London, UK

These are just a handful of the highlights of TEFAF 2013, which also includes an impressive backdrop of works by Diego Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660), Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973), Jacob Jordaens (Flemish, 1593–1678), and Rudolf Stingel (Italian, b.1956), to name a few. The recent announcement of TEFAF’s talks with Sotheby’s to develop an event in China indicates that the world’s largest and highest quality art and antiques fair will only continue to grow.

Axel Hütte, Portrait #16, 2004, Galleri K, Oslo, Norway

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