The 39th edition of TEFAF Maastricht has closed. Fifty thousand visitors over eight days, more than 450 museums represented, sustained sales throughout the week, and an economic impact figure produced in collaboration with Deloitte and presented for the first time — that puts the fair’s contribution to the Netherlands at €86.4 million, of which €37.9 million lands directly in Maastricht. For a city of 120,000 people, that’s not a footnote. That’s a significant annual event.
The attendance exceeded expectations, which is worth saying plainly given the backdrop. Geopolitical uncertainty, tariff anxiety, fragile consumer confidence in several major markets — none of it deterred the collectors, curators and institutional buyers who came to Maastricht this week looking for quality. They found it. Several exhibitors described this as among their most successful TEFAF editions. The institutions in the room included the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum, the Louvre in both Paris and Abu Dhabi, the Musée d’Orsay, the V&A, the National Gallery of London, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among many others. When museums of that calibre send their directors and curators, they tend to leave with things.
The loyalty of the exhibitor base remains one of TEFAF’s defining characteristics. A quarter of participants have been attending here for more than 20 years. That kind of continuity is unusual in the fair landscape. It reflects something real about what Maastricht offers: a concentration of scholarship, provenance and quality that doesn’t exist at the same level anywhere else.
Several collecting trends consolidated across the week. Demand for smaller-scale, intimate works was notably strong — a shift that reflects both practical considerations around living with art and a broader move away from the trophy-scale acquisitions that defined the market at its most overheated. Cross-category collecting continued to grow, with buyers moving between periods and disciplines rather than staying within established silos. Provenance and scholarly rigour remained non-negotiable at the top end. And the growing market recognition of historically overlooked artists, particularly women, showed no sign of slowing. These are not passing fashions. They reflect a collector base that is becoming more sophisticated and more historically self-aware.
On accessibility, the fair has been making a sustained argument that museum-quality and affordable are not mutually exclusive. This year’s Emerging Collector Program, curated by Paul Arnhold, saw 96 galleries present works priced under €20,000. The full price range across the fair ran from €2,000 to multi-million-euro acquisitions. That spread matters if TEFAF is serious about broadening participation rather than just talking about it.
A five-day Curator Course, which reinforced the scholarship dimension and was run in partnership with Maastricht University, welcomed 10 international curators and supported what the fair describes as the next generation of museum leadership. These are the people who will be making institutional acquisitions in ten and twenty years. Meeting them in Maastricht, at this fair, at this stage of their careers, is an investment in the future of the market as much as in the profession.
The TEFAF Summit brought together 250 delegates from across the art world, academia, finance, and public policy to discuss the theme “Beyond Economic Impact: Rethinking Culture in Public Policy.” The argument that culture’s contribution to economic and social life is systematically undervalued in policy terms is one that the sector has been making for decades. The inaugural Economic Impact Report provides harder numbers than most such arguments can deploy.
€86.4 million. Fifty thousand visitors. Two hundred and seventy exhibitors from twenty-two countries. The 39th edition of TEFAF Maastricht has made its case.
TOP SALES AND MUSEUM ACQUISITIONS
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, is on reserve for a private collector.
• Paul Coulon (UK) placed Yves Klein’s Untitled Blue Sponge Sculpture with a private collector, who had an asking price of €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 to a museum, including Sprigionarsi by Augusto Favalli; The Boss by Silvio Bicchi; and Ritratto by Cuno Amiet, with further transactions under negotiation.
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 at prices up to six figuressix figures, with 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 on display at the Princessehof Ceramics Museum in Leeuwarden.
Aronson Antiquairs (Netherlands) sold a set of 18th-century Delft objects featuring satirical scenes of 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 to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with further sales to private collectors. The acquisitions included photography, jewellery, drawings, and textiles, with prices ranging from £50,000 to £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 from several museums in other works.
Vanderven Oriental Art (Netherlands) sold Linglong Brushpots from the Kangxi period, which alluded to The Dream of the Yellow Millet, a familiar 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 sum to an institute, as well as a prisoner-of-war ship’s model for €195,000 and a gilt-bronze sculpture of a Guanyin dating from the 14th to 15th centuries 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 a TEFAF dealer sold Alison Wilding sculptures for around £20,000, Sheila Hicks’ works sold 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, is destined for a French private collection.
Buchmann Galerie (Germany) sold, among other works, sculptures by Tony Cragg, including Stages, 2025, with a price range of € 280,000,000, 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 sculptures by Lynn Chadwick, to collectors in the UK, Belgium, and Dubai, at 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 fair, selling 16 works 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 the 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-figure range, 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 European collection.
DESIGN
Didier (UK) presented design artist jewellery under 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, as well as 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 8 pieces to private collectors from South America, the 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 works sold, including the Fisherwoman by Virginie Demont-Breton to a US institution and the Traute Rose writing by Lotte Laserstein to a 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 12 lithographs from Reflections by Helen Frankenthaler for $120,000.
Lancz Gallery (Belgium) sold the Snake pitcher by Arthur Craco to the Musée d’Orsay for €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, sold to the National Gallery; Saint Paul by Geoffroy Dumonstier, sold to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; and Hercules Kills the Hydra by Raphael Lamar West, sold to 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 through 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, 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, private European collectors of mostly contemporary art.
Galerie Thomas Schulte (Germany) was one of a handful of exhibitors dedicated to 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.
Boris Vervoordt, President of TEFAF Executive Committee, commented: “As we conclude the 39th edition of TEFAF Maastricht, we reflect on the exceptional works brought together by a community that never fails to inspire; the deep engagement of our international museum colleagues, for whom TEFAF is a vital platform for dialogue and collaboration; and the enduring confidence of collectors who make a pilgrimage to this historic city in pursuit of the finest works of art spanning over 7,000 years of human creativity.
This year has once again demonstrated that TEFAF is not only a marketplace, but a cultural touchstone – and a benchmark for the global art market”
EXHIBITOR TESTIMONIALS
Matteo Salamon from the eponymous Italian picture dealer, noted that “2026 has been the year of Old Masters…We saw museums and private collectors from all over the world actively acquiring historic works.”
Galleria Continua commented, “TEFAF once again confirms itself as one of the most important and prestigious events in the international art market.”
Galleria Rossella Colombari added, “We connected directly with collectors and a new audience of connoisseurs who immediately recognised the designers and quality of works.”
TEFAF will next present TEFAF New York from 15th-19th May (preview May 14th), continuing its mission to connect the international art community across continents. The next edition of TEFAF Maastricht will take place from March 13th-18th, 2027 (previews March 11th and 12th).
Top Photo: Loraine Bodewes Courtesy TEFAF