Over the years, as a global interest in art has spread, so has the desire to collect objects that are unusual and unique,” says Munich jeweler Christian Hemmerle, explaining the ever-growing attraction of the European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), the 29th edition of which runs March 11 through 20, at the Maastricht Exhibition & Congress Centre. At this latest edition of the original multidisciplinary fair, 270 dealers are offering not just rare-to-market canvases and objets de vertú but also important tribal pieces, Asian works of art, and an enhanced selection of postwar and contemporary art and design. With regard to the latter, says London gallerist Hidde van Seggelen, “some of the artists presented may be younger than the fair itself.”

Old Masters

Paintings, Drawings, and Illuminated Manuscripts

Sebastian Vrancx, Allegory of Winter, 1608

Available from Koetser Gallery, Zurich

Old Master works have been a mainstay of TEFAF since its debut as the biennial Pictura Fine Art Fair in 1975. Highlights at this edition include 18th-century drawings by Tiepolo on offer from Day & Faber, and a 17th-century Dutch Book of Hours at the stand of Stéphane Clavreuil. Of special interest is a suite of eight canvases by French 19th-century landscape painter Eugène Boudin, tendered by London dealer Jonathan Green, who believes the artist remains undervalued. “He was a subtle, superb, technical painter, who never disappoints.”

Ancient Art

Works Spanning the Millennia

Marble Foot, Roman, A.D. 2nd–3rd century

Available from Cahn International, Münchenstein, Switzerland

“Due to a careful selection process combined with a very thorough vetting system, TEFAF has become one of the most important fairs with an antiquities section worldwide,” says Jean-David Cahn of Cahn International. His Münchenstein, Switzerland–based gallery is bringing works spanning more than 5,000 years, including Egyptian ceramics and a 2,000-year-old Roman silver skyphos with repoussé decoration. This year Cahn is joined by 10 fellow purveyors of Classical antiquities, including London dealer Rupert Wace, who is offering an Egyptian Dynasty XXII painted wooden stela, and Brussels-based Galerie Harmakhis, which is presenting a 4,500-year-old Sumerian alabaster head of a deity.

Modern & Contemporary

Fine Art and Design

Pierre Soulages, Brou de noix (Walnut stain), 1973

Available from Galerie Berès, Paris

According to London gallerist Hidde van Seggelen, visitors to this year’s event will find expanded offerings in the modern and contemporary art arena, the centerpiece of which will be “Zeige Deine Wunde/Show Your Wound,” an exhibition of works inspired by Joseph Beuys and curated by Amsterdam-based critic Mark Kremer. “In selecting the exhibitors, we have focused only on those galleries that have steadfastly nurtured the artists they represent,” says van Seggelen. For this edition, 45 dealers are presenting 20th- and 21st-century works from around the globe.

Objets de Vertú

Silver, Gold, and Enamel

Gold box with a painted portrait of George Frideric Handel, ca. 1720

Available from Koopman Rare Art, London

A gold box that opens to reveal a miniature portrait of the German composer is just one of the treasures wrought of precious metals to be found at the stand of London dealer Koopman Rare Art. TEFAF is known not only for its wide selection of objets de vertú but its abundance of equally ornate curiosity cabinet fare that draws the eye, typified by the works on offer from Munich dealer Kunstkammer Georg Laue. His gallery is bringing “silver mounted objects” of the 16th to 18th centuries, including an ibex horn tankard from Salzburg, circa 1720.

Antiques

European Fine Furnishings

Herman Doomer, cupboard in ebony and rosewood, 1595–1600

Available from Pieter Hoogendijk Antiquairs, Amsterdam

The antiques section is the largest at the fair, with more than 100 dealers offering furniture, sculpture, textiles, porcelains, and other works of art from around the world, dating from the 16th through 19th centuries. TEFAF boasts a particular strength in European pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque periods such as those tendered by Botticelli Antichità of Florence, which is presenting a late 17th-century marble statue of Hercules and Antaeus, and Carlton Hobbs of New York, who is offering an early 18th-century Italian gilt- bronze folding stool.

Works on Paper

Historical & contemporary

Candida Höfer, Hermitage St. Petersburg XII, 2014

Available from Galleri K, Oslo

“More and more art collectors are interested in photography,” says Ben Frija of Oslo-based Galleri K, which is promoting works by artists associated with the Becher school of photography: Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff, and Thomas Struth. Since debuting it in 2010, TEFAF has continued to expand its Paper section, which includes not only photography but limited edition prints, ranging from Old Masters to contemporary works; antiquarian books; and Asian calligraphy works. This edition, a special exhibition titled “Collecting Collectors” showcases prints and drawings from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.