MAASTRICHT.- The opening days of TEFAF Maastricht 2026 have reaffirmed the fair’s position as the world’s pre-eminent marketplace for art, antiques and design, with collectors responding enthusiastically to one of the strongest presentations of works in recent years. Across the fair, dealers have brought objects of exceptional quality and provenance, spanning millennia of art history and reflecting the rigorous standards for which TEFAF is renowned.

Despite a complex global backdrop, appetite for collecting remains robust. Reports from the collector previews indicate a buoyant market at the highest levels, with galleries confirming significant acquisitions across multiple categories within the first two days of the fair. Attendance figures increased by over 5% across the two opening days. Museum and institutional representation increased by over 10% with 450 institutions represented by a combination of directors, curators and patron groups. The early momentum underscores the enduring confidence of collectors and institutions in museum-quality works, and TEFAF’s role as the meeting point for the international art market

Speaking on behalf of TEFAF’s Executive Committee, Boris Vervoordt, comments, “What we are seeing in Maastricht this week is a powerful reminder that the appetite for great works of art continues to grow. TEFAF’s exhibitors have assembled an extraordinary concentration of quality and scholarship, and collectors have responded immediately, early acquisitions confirming that, even in uncertain times, collectors remain deeply committed to acquiring truly outstanding works.”

Among the standout transactions taking place on the opening days were:

PAINTINGS

Gallery 19C (US, stand 328) sold L’homme est en mer (1887–1889) by the French artist Virginie Demont- Breton to the Van Gogh Museum for a price estimated between €500,000 to €1,000,000. This monumental painting is an important addition to the museum’s collection, as Van Gogh knew the composition through a print and made a painted copy after it in 1889. The acquisition also marks a national first: it is the inaugural work by Demont-Breton to enter a Dutch public collection.

Agnews (UK, stand 314) sold Willem Drost’s exceptional 1654 oil on canvas, Man with a Plumed Red Beret, to The Leiden Collection, the world’s foremost private assemblage of Rembrandt and Rembrandt School paintings.

Colnaghi (Spain, stand 304) sold four of its major works, Portrait of a gentleman by Tintoretto to an American private collection, Portrait of Isabella Runi with a lady-in-waiting by Lavinia Fontana to an Asian private collection, Head study of a Jew by Julius Hübner to an American collection and Portrait of a Carmelite monk by Alonso Cano to a private European collection.

Bijl-Van Urk Masterpaintings (Netherlands, stand 370) sold multiple works over the opening days, ranging from €100,000 to €1 million, including A Banquet Still Life by Willem Claesz. Heda to a South European private collector and Jan Porcellis’s Small Ships in Heavy Weather to The Kremer Collection.

Caylus (Spain, stand 342) sold its Isidro Nonell Gypsy in Blue and Mateo Cerzo A Apparition of the Madonna and Child to Saint Frances of Assisi each to institutional collections. Additional sales include its Josefa Sánchez Crucifix and Luis Antonio Fenech A view of the “Delicias Cubanas” of the count of Yumuri for €65,000 and €45,0000 respectively.

Christopher Bishop Fine Art (US, stand 607) enjoyed a buoyant opening selling a collection, Fashion Illustrations ca/ 1960/61 by Pierre Balmain for Bergdorf Goodman and a Portrait of Guillaume Guillon- Lethière by Marie Mélanie d’Hervilly Gohier Hahnemann.

Caretto & Occhinegro (Italy, stand 372) sold its highlight The Pentecost by Jean Cousin I to a private collection, also The Capture of Christ by Pieter Coecke van Aelst with an asking price around €250,000.

Galeria Bernat (Spain, stand 377) sold Crucification by Benito Arnaldin to a private collector.

Antonacci Lapiccirella Fine Art (Italy, stand 318) reported strong sales including two paintings by Gustaf Fjaestad, two of the main works in the gallery’s Swedish Lights focus, acquired by a major European collection and a Canadian foundation respectively, both for six figures. Other notable acquisitions included an oil sketch by the Swiss artist J.J. Frey to a US museum and A. Morbelli’s 1896 Glacier sold to a European collector. Two further works are being considered by American and French museums.

Berardi Galleria d’Arte (Italy, stand 330) sold 10 pieces with further negotiations in progress, Among the works sold was Bronze Panther by Sirio Tofanari, acquired by a new, international collector and the sculpture Boxer Jack Johnson by Nillo Beltrami, sold to a European museum.

ANTIQUES

Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books (Germany, stand 114) enjoyed a buoyant opening selling several remarkable manuscripts, the most important of which - the Liechtenstein Tacuinum Sanitatis, sold for CHF5 million.

Stuart Lochhead Sculpture (UK, stand 108) sold Nero’s Vase, made in the first century AD, that once formed part of the Emperor’s Domus Transitoria residence. It was acquired by a US museum for a price in the region of £1.8 million. Among further sales was Study of a Boy in Profile by Massimo Stanzione, purchased by a European private collector for around €350,000.

Zebregs&Röell Fine Art and Antiques (Netherlands, stand 146) sold The Bird Vendor by Jan Daniel Beynon to a French private collector for a five-figure amount while an American museum acquired William Paterson’s Company School Animal Drawings for a six-figure amount.

Bowman Sculpture (UK, stand 181) sold two sculptures by Massimilano Pelletti to an American private collector and an Austrian private collector, for £100,000 and £50,000 respectively.

Booij-Arts (Netherlands, stand 248/249) sold ceramic works by Pablo Picasso and René Lalique to Dutch private collectors.

Carolle Thibaut–Pomerantz (stand 248/249) sold a wallpaper panel by Thomas Couture and Jules Desfossé, to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, which owns the original painting and plans to show the panel alongside it.

Thomas Coulborn & Sons (UK, stand 171) sold multiple pieces on the opening days including Mr Joy’s Surprise, a charming Queen Anne child’s wardrobe in the style of a Dutch gabled house. It had an asking price of €75,000.

De Wit Fine Tapestries (Belgium, stand 142) made an important sale of a large, vividly colored 18th century tapestry to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the second time it has sold to this institution at TEFAF.

Koopman Rare Art (UK, stand 166) sold a group of three 17th-century Charles II two-handled cage-work cups and covers with an asking price in the region of €180,000, also a pair of Victoria Silver-Gilt Pilgrim Flasks by James Garrard, London 1890 with an asking price around €90,000. Both sold to private collectors.

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY

First-time exhibitor GRIMM (Netherlands, stand 468) recorded no fewer than 14 sales of new works by contemporary artists created especially for the fair, including Angela Heisch, Michael Raedecker, Caroline Walker and Robert Zandvliet. Priced at up to €200,000, they are destined for both private collections and museums.

Ludorff (Germany, stand 514) sold seven works on the opening day with major sales including Frühling by Max Pechstein to a private collector (asking price €690,000), 7.3.85 by Gerhard Richter to a private collector (asking price €350,000), and Tawny Pink with blue and apple green by Bridget Riley (asking price €250,000).

D Lan Galleries (Australia, stand 458) reported six sales of Aboriginal art over the course of the two opening days, all in the region of US$100,000-US$250,000.

Pavec (France, stand 518) sold seven works, including two of the most important works from their stand: Still Life with Oranges by Marie Bracquemond (between €150,000 and €200,000) placed in an important American museum and Still Life with Porro by Juliette Roche (between €150,000 and €200,000) to an American private collection.

Newcomer Gallery Sofie Van de Velde (Belgium, stand 513) reported seven sales by the emerging artist Felix De Clercq.

Another first-time exhibitor, Alison Jacques (UK, stand 457) sold works by Eileen Agar and Sheila Hicks on the opening day, commenting on the high caliber of collectors.
Edouard Simoens (Belgium, stand 523) sold Farbprobe by Sigmar Polke to a private collector for a price between €60,000 and €80,000.

DESIGN

Marc Heiremans (Belgium, stand 475) sold two works to private collectors, one by Flavio Poli for €33,000 and one by Ercole Barovier for €45,000.

Tafeta (UK, stand 705) is presenting the work of pioneering Nigerian modern ceramicist, Ladi Kwali, and sold four pieces during the opening days, including one to a private collector from Lagos and another to an institution.

Galerie Van den Bruinhorst (Netherlands, stand 706) sold the Schröder Table also called End table by Gerrit Th. Rietveld to a Dutch private collector (asking price €37,500).

Sarah Myerscough Gallery (UK, stand 481) had strong opening sales, selling multiple pieces over the preview days.

WORKS ON PAPER

Galleri K (Norway, stand 627) sold The Heart by Edvard Munch to a private collector with a price around €250,000.

James Butterwick (UK, stand 611) specialist in Ukrainian art, sold 27 works during the opening days, all to private collectors, with prices ranging from €2,000 - €38,000.


Agnews Work on Paper (Belgium, stand 618) reported 12 sales to private collectors and three museum sales.

Lancz Gallery (Belgium, stand 619) sold Femme à la cape noire by Firmin Baes to a private collector with a price ranging between €15.000 - €20,000.

William Weston Gallery (UK, stand 617) reported several early sales, Collage 1987 by Victor Vasarely and Portrait of Jacqueline 4.12.1956 by Pablo Picasso. Both sold for mid-five figure amounts.

ANCIENT ART

Charles Ede (UK, stand 801) sold over 20 antiquities during the preview days, with prices ranging from €1,500 to six figures. A major sale was fragments of a Nereid sarcophagus from c.190-200 AD, which were acquired by Thomas Coke, first Earl of Leicester, during his grand tour through Rome in 1716 and displayed in Holkham Hall where they remained until the gallery acquired them.

David Aaron (UK, stand 804) reported several sales including Stele of Medeia, with an asking price of £450,000 to a major institution.

Plektron Fine Arts AG (Switzerland, stand 807) reported several sales and had other pieces on reserve. Among early sales was The Memnon Amphora, the finest surviving work of the Memnon Group, with inscriptions written in the Ionic alphabet, sold for a six-figure sum to a private European institution within the opening five minutes of the fair.

SHOWCASE

The Showcase section of TEFAF Maastricht highlights nine young or emerging international dealers, providing them with a prestigious platform within the larger fair. Annually a prize is bequeathed by JP Morgan to the most interesting stand; this year it selected Galerie Boquet which presented a curated selection of pieces by Dora Maar.
AGO Projects (Mexico, stand SC9) sold multiple pieces by Taller Los Tepalcates and Myungjin Kim, each for between €5,000-€10,000. The sales underscore the breadth of collecting opportunities at TEFAF Maastricht, where works of exceptional quality can be found across a wide range of price points, demonstrating that the fair offers accessible entry points for collectors as well as museum-quality masterpieces.

Erik Bijzet Sculpture and Works of Art (Netherlands, SC3), specializing in sculpture from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century and small-scale works of art such as enamels, ivories, jewellery, stained glass and metalwork, sold his four highlights to a local private collector during the opening days.

Torres Nieto Fine Arts (Germany, SC1) sold Fish on Rocks at the Seashore, an Old Master by Jan Kessel the Elder (asking price €140,000).