TEFAF Maastricht concludes with Strong Attendance and Sustained Market Confidence

Over 50,000 visitors attended across the eight-day fair, exceeding expectations and reflecting continued global appetite for the highest quality works of art. Institutional engagement remained a defining feature with over 450 museums represented, including 67 patron groups, reinforcing TEFAF’s role as a vital meeting point for curators, collectors and scholars.

Museums attending included leading international institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rijksmuseum, Louvre (Paris and Abu Dhabi), Musée d’Orsay, Victoria & Albert Museum, National

Gallery London, Van Gogh Museum, Städel Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, among many others.

Set against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, TEFAF Maastricht once again proved a resilient barometer of the global art market. Following strong early momentum during the preview days, confidence continued to build, with sustained sales reported throughout the week and several exhibitors citing this edition as among their most successful TEFAF to date.

The fair’s enduring importance is underscored by the strength and loyalty of its exhibitor base, with 25% of participants having exhibited at TEFAF for more than 20 years.

Building on the strong opening days, further significant transactions were reported across the fair, demonstrating depth and consistency across categories with stand-out sales as follows:

• Dr Jörn Günther Rare Books (Switzerland) made sales amounting to eight-figures including the important Liechtenstein Tacuinum Sanitatis, which sold for CHF5 million.
• Alon Zakaim (UK) a rare pair of paintings by Claude Monet, reunited after more than 130 years, with an asking price of €20 million are on reserve for a private collector.
• Paul Coulon (UK) placed Yves Klein’s Untitled Blue Sponge Sculpture with a private collector which had an asking price off €2.5 million. 
• Tomasso (UK) a 14th-century marble kneeling figure was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art for approximately €1.5 million.
• Utermann (Germany) sold Max Beckmann’s Orchard Still Life with Green Bowl for around €1 million, with immediate museum loan interest.
• M.S. Rau (US) reported multiple sales above the million-dollar level, including works by Mary Cassatt and Pablo Picasso. 
• Galerie Lefebvre (US) sold Hibou de Pierre by François-Xavier Lalanne for around $1 million.

PAINTINGS
Bottegantica (Italy) reported sales to new clients and a museum including Sprigionarsi by Augusto Favalli; The Boss by Silvio Bicchi, and Ritratto by Cuno Amiet, with further transactions being negotiated.

Dickinson (UK) sold a marble bust of Edward, the Black Prince by John Michael Rysbrack to a US institution, which had an asking price of around €700,000 along with a preparatory sketch of the Coutts Sisters by Angelica Kauffman offered for €115,000.

Gallery 19C (US) sold a portrait of Julie Lemmen by Georges Lemmen depicting the artist’s sister crocheting. It had an asking price of $1.2 million and was acquired by an American museum.

Haboldt & Co (Netherlands) sold A Still Life with Gooseberries on a Stone Ledge by the enigmatic artist, Adriaen Coorte, and A Swag with Fruit and Flowers Hanging before a Niche by the female artist Maria van Oosterwijck to a private collector in the region of €1 million.

Lullo | Pampoulides (UK) has on reserve for a major museum, a marble elephant by Gaetano Monti, modelled directly from life. The animal was brought to Europe in the 18th century and delighted courts around the continent, inspiring this extraordinary piece. It had a seven-figure asking price.

ANTIQUES
Adrian Sassoon (UK) sold around 60 pieces with prices up to six-figures and clients including private collectors and museum curators. One of his artists, Bouke de Vries, was on the stand to see several of his works sold to collectors. The artist’s work is currently the subject of an exhibition at Princessehof Ceramics Museum in Leeuwarden.

Aronson Antiquairs (Netherlands) sold a set of 18th century Delft objects with satirical scenes referring to the South Sea Bubble to an American museum. The rare ensemble reflects one of Europe’s earliest financial crises and its impact on visual culture. A pair of Delft polychrome figural candlesticks was sold to a Belgian private collector. Both pieces had five-figure asking prices.

Elfriede Langeloh (Germany) sold a large Chinese famille verte bowl from the collection of Augustus the Strong to a private collector and the theatrical figures Oceanos and Tethys, the God of the Sea and his Wife by Franz Conrad Linck, Frankenthal to a US museum for around €200,000.

Galerie Kugel (France) sold the 18th century Meissen flute belonging to Frederick the Great to a private collector who intends to gift it to the Rijksmuseum.

Peter Finer (UK), specialist in arms and armoury, reported multiple sales between €50,000-€250,000 including a camel shaffron, a 16th century doublet, a Saxon morion, and a pair of leather gloves from the English civil war.

Prahlad Bubbar (UK) sold five works to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and two pieces to The Metropolitan Museum of Art along with further sales to private collectors. The acquisitions included photography, jewels, drawings and textiles, with prices between £50,000 and £400,000.

São Roque (Portugal) sold a large Indo-Portuguese Gujarati tortoiseshell casket to the Aga Khan Museum in Ontario for around €200,000 and the gallery reported interest in other works by several museums.

Vanderven Oriental Art (Netherlands) sold Linglong Brushpots from the Kangxi period, which alluded to The Dream of the Yellow Millet, a familar Chinese allegorical tale. They were acquired by the Albuquerque Foundation in Sintra for around €75,000.

Zebregs&Röell Fine Art & Antiques (Netherlands) sold two paintings by Augustino Brunias for a seven-figure amount to an institute, as well as a prisoner-of-war ship’s model at €195,000 and a gilt-bronze sculpture of a Guanyin dating from the 14th to 15th century for circa €300,000, both to private collectors. Additional sales included The Bird Vendor by Jan Daniel Beynon to a French private collector for a six- figure amount while an American museum acquired William Paterson’s Company School Animal Drawings for a seven-figure amount.

ANCIENT ART
Galerie Cybele (France) sold a Black-figured Attic necked amphora, “Heracles’ journey to Olympus”, to a private collector for around €70,000.

Galerie Kevorkian (France) sold a rare 12th-century ‘Monumental style’ lustreware pottery jug to a European private collector.

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY
Alison Jacques (UK) commented that “the attendance of clients is phenomenal. It feels like everyone is flocking to Maastricht”. The first time TEFAF dealer sold Alison Wilding sculptures for around £20,000, Sheila Hicks works for between $38,000 and $500,000 along with further works by Eileen Agar, Hannah Wilke and Sophie Barber.

Galleria d’Arte Maggiore g.a.m. (Italy/France) sold Paesaggio, an important oil on canvas by Giorgio Morandi from the collection of Emilio and Maria Jesi, acquired by a major private collection. Also Cestino della Discordia, a contemporary hyperrealistic polychrome ceramic sculpture, featuring trompe-l'oeil, destined for a French private collection.

Buchmann Galerie (Germany) sold, among other works, sculptures by Tony Cragg, including Stages, 2025 with a price range €280,000 – €300,000, destined for a private European collection.

Ludorff (Germany) Marino Marini’s Cavallo e cavaliere di lato, 1953, sold for €69,000, and Otto Piene’s Ohne Titel, 1967, sold for €39,000, both went to private collections in Germany and Belgium. A small painting by Poliakoff was also sold for €53,000.

Osborne Samuel (UK) sold Barbara Hepworth’s Horizontal Form along with two sales of sculptures by Lynn Chadwick with works sold to collectors in the UK, Belgium and Dubai with prices in the region of €200,000 - €400,000. As the fair concluded two further works by Henry Moore and Naum Gabo, were under consideration by a museum.

Page Gallery (South Korea) reported an unprecedented and record-breaking fair, selling 16 pieces to collectors from the Netherlands and neighbouring European countries. Of particular interest were works by Choi Myoung Young and Vio Choe.

Piano Nobile (UK) confirmed several seven-figure sales to discrete, private collectors with other pieces attracting museum interest. The gallery also sold works by Grayson Perry, Frank Auerbach (€750,000) and Glyn Philpot (€40,000) along with works by the Bloomsbury Group and London School. Three further works remain on hold for US and European museums.

Sofie Van de Velde (Belgium) following seven sales during the preview days, the gallery reported two further acquisitions by Belgian private collectors in the six-figures, including Het Antiquairsinterieur by Henri De Braekeleer.

Wienerroither & Kohlbacher (Austria) sold well including works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele to clients in the US, as well as a painting by Lyonel Feininger to a renowned collection in Europe.

DESIGN
Didier (UK) presented design artist jewelry around the theme Gold in the Hands of Artists. Among the gallery’s sales were two pendants by Max Ernst and Jean Arp, a bracelet designed by Pol Pury that belonged to his wife, and a fish shaped brooch by Georges Braque. All pieces were from the 1960s and 1970s and sold for five-figure amounts.

Ippodo Gallery (Japan /US) reported an extremely successful fair with 15 sales including works by Shihoko Fukumoto, KAKU and Masaaki Miyasako acquired by private collectors, and a work by Terumasa Ikeda destined for a museum.

Ketabi Bourdet (France) sold Lumière Résignée by Guy de Rougemont for around €35,000, and a chair by Tom Dixon, with a five-figure asking price, is on hold for the collection of the Museum of Decorative Art in Paris.

LeBreton (France) showed works exclusively by the surrealist artist, Roberto Matta, selling eight pieces to private collectors from South America, US, France and Northern Europe.

WORKS ON PAPER
Agnews Works on Paper (Belgium) sold more than 20 works including the watercolour Frozen land, by Paul Klee. Also works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Signac, Maurice Denis, Fernand Khnopff, Edgar Degas and Peder Balke.

Colnaghi Elliott (UK) reported a successful fair with 10 sold works including, the Fisherwoman by Virginie Demont-Breton to an US institution and the Traute Rose writing by Lotte Laserstein to an US museum.

Kunsthandlung Helmut H. Rumbler (Germany) sold Self-Portrait Frowning (1630), an etching by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, to a US collector.

Lyndsey Ingram (UK) sold a complete set of twelve lithographs from Reflections by Helen Frankenthaler with an asking price of $120,000.

Lancz Gallery (Belgium) Sold the Snake pitcher by Arthur Craco to the Musée d’Orsay with a price range of €6,000 - €10,000.

Galerie Ron Mandos (Netherlands) sold 18 works, primarily photography by Erwin Olaf, Hans van Manen and sold an important/large recent photo of Isaac Julien (asking price 35.000 euros) to the AkzoNobel Art Foundation in Amsterdam where they will show the work in their open Art Space; and works by Hans Op de Beeck were sold to Flemish collectors with a price range between €45,000 – 84,000.

Nicolaas Teeuwisse (Germany) Reported a strong fair with plenty of sales. Among these sales were The Series of the Sultan’s caravan to Mecca by Joseph-Marie Vien which was sold to National Gallery, Saint Paul by Geoffroy Dumonstier to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and Hercules Kills the Hydra by Raphel Lamar West to the The Art Institute of Chicago.

Utermann (Germany) Sales included Abstract Head by Alexej von Jawlensky, acquired by a European private collector for around €750,000; Dollshouse Picture by Gabriele Münter purchased by an American Private Collector for around €200,000; and works by Pablo Picasso and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, which both sold to European private collectors each for around €40,000.

SHOWCASE & FOCUS
Each year TEFAF introduces nine young or emerging galleries to the international art market via Showcase, while its Focus section highlights solo artist projects. Annually a prize is bequeathed by JP Morgan to the most interesting Showcase stand, which was presented to Galerie Boquet which presented a curated selection of pieces by Dora Maar. Sales included:

Torres Nieto Fine Arts (Germany) sold Large Hunting Still Life with Dead Birds by Johannes Leemans to a US collector for around €50,000.

Galerie Van den Bruinhorst (Netherlands) sold various works by Gerrit Rietveld, including a Zigzag chair of Rietveld and a lamp (1935) to the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, which has the largest Rietveld collection in the world.

Erik Bijzet Sculpture and Works of Art (Netherlands) sold ten of his fifteen pieces, including the highlight work The Baptism of Christ, which was bought in the first thirty minutes of the fair.

Galerie DEVALS (France) sold works to Dutch, Belgian, US and Bulgarian collectors including a land-art sculpture, and a drawing of Andy Goldsworthy, and works by Nobuo Sekine and Victor Vasarely.

Roberti Fine Art (UK) sold two miniature 17th century portraits by Agnese Dolci to new clients who were private European collectors of mostly contemporary art.

Galerie Thomas Schulte (Germany) was one of a handful of exhibitors dedicating presenting curated collections of photography. It sold the vintage print, Parrot Tulip, 1988, by Robert Mapplethorpe, to a private collector. It had an asking price of $150,000.

These transactions complement the major early sales reported during the preview days, reinforcing TEFAF Maastricht’s position as the market’s most consistent and trusted platform.