TEFAF Maastricht 2005

A stunning portrait by Perugino and a 12th-century wooden Madonna at TEFAF Maastricht 2005

TEFAF Maastricht, the world´s leading art and antiques fair, runs from 4-13 March 2005 at the MECC, Maastricht. Between 20,000 and 30,000 works of art of the highest quality from all over the world are offered for sale by 201 exhibitors from Europe, North and South America and Canada. This year the Detroit Institute of Arts is holding an exhibition of thirty-five Old Masters and sculptures, many of which were bought at TEFAF. Also on display at the Fair are three very rare Amati violins from the Cremona Museum, Italy, one of which dates from 1566. A jubilee concert at which these violins, together with fifteen other Amati instruments, are to be played takes place at the Vrijthof Theater, Maastricht, on Sunday 6 March. An improved stand design and new decoration gives TEFAF Maastricht 2005 a dramatic new look.

Works of art on offer at TEFAF 2005 In the Paintings, Drawings & Prints section Salomon Lilian, Amsterdam, is bringing an impressive portrait of A Philosopher, by Jan Lievens (1607-1674). Painted in 1629, when the artist was in his early twenties and shared a studio with Rembrandt, it clearly shows the latter’s influence. A Philosopher is one of a series of portraits of apostles and other important figures painted by Lievens. Sarti, Paris, is showing a stunning Portrait of a Boy by Pietro di Cristofano Vannucci, known as Perugino (1448-1523). The painting, made around 1475, was included in the recent exhibition about the artist held in Perugia in the Summer of 2004. This work is undoubtedly one of the most important Renaissance paintings at TEFAF 2005.

One of the earliest European pieces in the Antiques and Works of Art section is a 12th century enthroned Madonna and Child (65 x 21 x 22cm), made from walnut wood, with traces of polychrome, from Auvergne, France, on the stand of Bresset, Paris. A larger figure, an over life-sized bronze of Venus and Cupid, 1887, by Joseph von Kramer, is on offer from Senger Bamberg Kunsthandel, Bamberg. This sculpture decorated the Luitpold Café, Munich, for several decades. Amongst the ceramics for sale in this section, Röbbig München, Munich, is showing four exceptional baluster-shaped Meissen candlesticks, designed by Johann Joachim Kändler. The candlesticks, which are unusually tall at 36 cm, are closely related to a group of sacral objects modelled by Kändler in 1737, commissioned by King Augustus III of Poland as diplomatic gifts for the Roman Cardinal Annibale Albani. Silver specialist F. Payer Kunsthandel, Zurich, is bringing a rare Austrian silver-gilt drinking cup, made in Vienna, 1689, by Hans Christoph Morböck. The cup belonged in 1884 to Baron Nathaniel von Rothschild, resident of Vienna. Only four cups of a similar style are known, three of which are in European museums, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Pelham Galleries, London, will offer a unique pair of small giltwood sofas designed by Robert Adam in 1780 for the smallest drawingroom of Sir Abraham Hume’s house in Mayfair, London. The settees correspond to a watercolour drawing in Sir John Soane’s Museum, annotated Sopha for Sir Abraham Hume. Oriental art is an important element of the Fair and Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London, is offering an extraordinary torso of a Bodhisattva from China, Northern Qi dynasty (550-577). The sculpture is unique due to its size (103 cm/40 1⁄2 inches), the traces of polychrome left on the body and its elaborate jewellery. Probably the most unusual object of the section is offered by Trevor Philip & Sons, London, with an extremely rare set of jockey scales, made by W. & T. Avery in Birmingham in the late 19th century. The jockeys were weighed before a race by sitting on the jockey seat which is counter balanced by a metal plate for applying the weights. The total construction measures 260 (H) x 213 (W) x 104 (D) cm.

The Modern Art section boasts a superb range of works including an important large work by Philip Guston, Waking Up (1975), on the stand of Timothy Taylor Gallery, London. The painting, which shows the artist in bed, a recurring theme and a particularly iconic image of Philip Guston’s later work, is for sale at around $3 million. Landau Fine Art, Montreal is offering one of Paul Klee’s rare Divisionist paintings, Überbrücktes (1931) and La Berceuse du Chien (1943), a colourful work by Jean Dubuffet, while Salis & Vertes, Salzburg, is showing a work by Raoul Dufy, La Musique de Tintoret, in which the artist interprets a work by Tintoretto depicting goddesses enjoying a musical banquet. German dealer, Beck & Eggeling, Düsseldorf, is bringing three paintings by Emil Nolde (1867-1956) including Familienbild, oil on canvas 1947, based on one of the watercolours executed between 1938 and 1945 in the secrecy of his home in Seebüll, Northern Germany.

Graff, London, is showing a spectacular necklace of 176.82 carats in which The Golden Star Diamond has been incorporated in the Haute Joaillerie du Monde section. This fancy vivid yellow diamond of 101.28 carats has a VS1 clarity and is one of the world’s largest cushion-cut diamonds.

In the Classical Antiquities and Egyptian Works of Art section Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, is offering an exquisite 10 cm tall Greco-Roman bronze statuette of Hermes from the 1st century BC-AD, while Royal Athena Galleries, New York, is bringing a Roman bronze Eros riding on a dolphin, 1st-2nd century AD. A stunning Roman mosaic (1.5m sq.) depicting a personification of Spring, 2nd century AD is for sale from Charles Ede, London.

AXA Art is principal sponsor of TEFAF AXA Art is the only insurer in the world to concentrate exclusively on art. The company insures private collectors, museums, exhibitions, art dealers and corporate collections and has offices in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US. The head office is in Cologne. AXA Art is part of the AXA Group, worldwide market leader in financial protection and safeguarding property.

Press release 1.7./2005

TEFAF Maastricht 2005