TEFAF Maastricht 2025 review: wonderfully niche art & design

On the opening days of TEFAF Maastricht 2025 (15-20 March), high-rolling collectors and artwork advisors, along with specialists from museums and establishments, gathered in suitably stealth-wealth fashion, elegantly clad in Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli and Hermès. Once we visited, Raf Simons and Viktor & Rolf’s Rolf Snoeren had been padding the aisles of this, the thirty eighth version of the honest – TEFAF standing for The European High quality Artwork Basis – which blends antiquity and the modern with pep and showmanship aptitude.

Better of TEFAF Maastricht 2025: what we noticed

Eyes are at all times firmly on the prized at TEFAF, as guests weigh up potential acquisitions in no matter area of interest they accumulate, whether or not 18th-century snuffboxes or Flemish tapestries. However there’s additionally at all times time for a glass of one thing and a few sushi within the aisles, and to debate the prevailing commerce winds, together with fierce new import/export tariffs. AXA, JP Morgan, Ruinart and Alaïa had been key sponsors on this version, bringing a dose of trend, luxurious, funding and tech into the nexus.

In an effort to woo the new-generation shopper, galleries had been working arduous to mix and merge genres, whether or not that be artwork nouveau glass and tribal artwork, or new makers with historical artisans, in cubicles that delivered a distinctly home attraction, full with parquet flooring and library partitions. Such arresting juxtapositions encourage collectors to recalibrate their very own home environments.

‘In Paris, we held a present final yr referred to as “Serendipity” with combined genres and it labored so nicely that right here at TEFAF, we’re persevering with that concept,’ stated Lucas Ratton, of the eponymous Paris gallery, based by his nice uncle, that was showcasing jewel-coloured artwork nouveau glass alongside its speciality, tribal artwork. The sales space with its darkish inexperienced partitions, bookshelves and seating evoked a trendy abode. ‘Individuals really feel the resonance and it piques curiosity,’ stated Ratton.

For Francis Sultana, director and CEO of David Gill Gallery, it was an opportunity to point out off modern works and the furnishings of German maker Valentin Loellmann, recognized for his sinuous items fusing steel, stained wooden and olive velvet in curvilinear kinds. ‘All artwork was as soon as modern and the work attracts new prospects. Between the museum-quality antiquities, shoppers can discover the relevance and we need to open their eyes,’ stated Gill, applauding the honest’s rigorous vetting and academic strategy.

At Stuart Lochhead Sculpture, issues regarded energetic with a baroque sculpture by Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654), Executioner (Bozzetto for the Beheading of St Paul within the Church of San Paolo Maggiore, Bologna) (c. 1634), bought to a non-public assortment in America for within the area of €2 million. The show was juxtaposed with beautiful floral works by Shota Suzuki (b. 1987), together with a fragile Camellia in copper, silver and gold powder with an asking worth of €9,500. The flower research subsequent to spiritual relics had been a neat marriage of previous and modern orthodox and pantheistic faiths. 5 of Suzuki’s wall sculptures had been bought on the primary day.

Ceramics are a comparatively low entry level in comparison with outdated masters and right here Pierre Marie Giraud gallery excelled with a mixture of modern ceramicists together with Takayuki Sakiyama, crackled glaze glass mushroom lamps by Jos Devriendt and furnishings by Herzog & de Meuron. ‘Individuals have been amassing ceramics for civilisations – it is among the most historical expressions of artwork and it’s thrilling to see the rising style. We’re in a small, fortunate place in a loopy world,’ stated director Cedric Beukels.

Whereas costs can attain nicely into the multi-millions, to draw new prospects, Dominique Savelkoul, the brand new managing director of TEFAF, is launching initiatives to draw a brand new technology of collectors, together with an interactive map that spotlights work underneath €20,000. Historic Roman and Greek antiquities can provide comparative worth, with a black glazed Greek amphora at Charles Ede for €7000 and an Egyptian carnelian falcon pendant jewelry at €2,000 from Kallos Gallery.

Within the hierarchy of portray, Alberto Giacometti, Gerhard Richter, Tracey Emin, Titian, Ai Weiwei, Hokusai, and Jan Davidsz. de Heem are among the many effective artwork highlights from throughout the centuries. The costliest art work this yr is a 1965 Picasso portray, Les Dormeurs, with an asking worth of $50 million at Landau High quality Artwork. There was a beeline for Richard Saltoun’s solo show of surrealist work and drawings by the Palestinian-born Lebanese artist Juliana Seraphim (1934-2005), chiming with the need for underplayed feminine artists.

In one other life, I’d have gone house with the dreamy metalwork mattress with phoenix and cabbage-leaf motifs by Claude Lalanne at Galerie Lefebvre, in the marketplace for €250,000. With its sheepskin and wool coverings, in a room set that includes an Alberto Giacometti wall sculpture of a white hen, it was love at first sight. ‘There’s a good quantity of work by Les Lalannes round however not an excessive amount of, and the mattress is considered one of a sort. The attraction is so common: it’s humorous, joyful, surreal,’ says Yana Mihailuka of Galerie Lefebvre, Paris. Architect Peter Marino, the Rothschilds and Yves Saint Laurent are among the many roll name of patrons previous and current. Candy collector goals.