TEFAF 2015: the kingdom of slow-art lasts 10 days

One significant difference between The Europen Fine Art Fair and its competitors focused on modern and contemporary art is that the TEFAF lasts longer. While the contemporary art dealers attending Art Basel Hong Kong may already be back to their headquarters, collectors, museums curators, scholars and of course also Maastricht’s general public, will have the chance to see the masterpieces on exhibition until next Sunday. This fact is not to be undervalued.

 

If buying certain emerging names at a contemporary art fair needs speed and influential relationships, to purchase a Dutch painter from 16th century like Jan Asselijn or a sculpture from the Baroque era of the kind that you can spot at Riccardo Bacarelli‘s booth, a more relaxed approach is required; especially, if you are an art institution, like the Rijksmuseum or the Musée du Louvre. Moreover, from the point of view of the dealer, you need the time to assist buyers, because most of the time the pieces they are interested in are not already sold by the many marketing devices that contemporary art galleries generally have at their disposal. Despite some exceptions, like the beautiful small painting by Maurice Denis sold at Talabardon&Gautier a few minutes after the opening, at the TEFAF people buy slowly, sometimes very slowly indeed.

 

It follows that the Very Important Collectors don’t rush at the opening, as opposed to the other art fairs, including the civilized Art Basel. Last June, at the vip preview, we saw people long before the actual opening  taking position next to the door nearest their favourite booths in order to be the first ones getting in, and as soon as the doors opened – all at the same time – they literally run into the building, and the courtyard all of a sudden was empty.

 

On the contrary, the really big collectors – Francois Pinault, Bernard Arnault or Patrizio Bertelli to name a few – are used to comfortably visit the TEFAF during the week, when the fair is not too crowded and journalists are already back to their desks. At the opening only Queen Maxima has been spotted, and here in Maastricht journalists do really enter the fair before the collectors.

 

It comes as no surprise, then, that many pieces, even the most important ones, are not sold during the first day and the negotiation for some others takes more than a couple of minutes. It is the case, for example, of the exquisite bust presented by Tomasso Brothers. It represents a young Roman and it was carved at the end of the 2nd century A.D., likely during the early years of the Severan Dynasty, at the height of the Roman Empire. The description provided by the gallery points out that the beholder’s attention is immediately caught by the outstanding quality of the statue’s hairstyle. It is typical of this era of portraiture and has been interpreted as an attempt to express the values of a metropolitan civility, as opposed to the more conservative and muscular masculinity of the military ‘Virtus’, represented by a shaven head that was popular in the earlier Trajanic period (Feifer, 2008: 245). While we are writing the piece is still available, but we know that a couple of collectors have already put their eyes on it.

 

Also the early Enrico Castellani presented at Moretti Fine Arts beside a Lorenzetto’s relief in marble describing the Holy Family with the young Saint John the Baptist is being highly appreciated. The work is in perfect conditions and its strong sculptural presence is a plus on which the second Castellani presented by the gallery can’t count: in small scale, and beside a marble of similar dimensions, the Italian master gets that sort of monumentality that only the great pieces of art do have. Who is going to be the collector who will convince Mr. Moretti to sell this rare pearl?

March 18, 2015