TEFAF Called "Stop" By The Epidemic: The Market Is Worse And Worse.

With the growing popularity of the new crowding in overseas, the Maastricht Arts Fair, the thirty-third European art and antiques Exhibition (TEFAF), which was scheduled to end in March 15th, announced an early conclusion in the afternoon of March 11th. An unidentified Italy exhibitor showed positive detection of the new crown pneumonia virus after returning to China in March 8th. According to statistics, the Expo has received nearly seventy thousand spectators since its opening. The art fair said the exhibitors did not show symptoms during the exhibition, and it was unclear whether the exhibitors would be exposed to the virus. Despite consultations with the local government that the art fair could be held as usual, with the attention of more and more people, the schedule of the one week Art Fair ended four days earlier.

The thirty-third European art fair, which was scheduled to end in March 15th, was announced early in the afternoon of March 11th. Vision China

An abrupt Art Fair

TEFAF is the largest and most influential art exhibition in the world. At the annual exhibition, hundreds of millions of master works and antiques are sold. Compared with other art fairs that normally hold five days at most, TEFAF has a longer exhibition period because the buyers themselves are mostly gentle classical masters collectors and museums. This year, the exhibition content of TEFAF is still attracting, but the epidemic has a negative impact on the participation of TEFAF guests, distributors and the local economy.

There are 285 exhibitors in this session, and the number of exhibitors is unprecedented. But before the opening ceremony, three exhibitors confirmed their retirement from the fear of the epidemic, some of which planned the first public appearance of the collection of masterpieces. Maurizio Rigillo is the founder of a gallery. He is a frequent visitor to TEFAF. He told New York Times that exhibitors were already a big challenge for dealers in Italy this year. In Italy, the number of deaths from the new crown is increasing. "I used to go to TEFAF with ten collectors from Milan in the past years, but this year I am the only one on the plane." According to statistics, the number of guests attending the VIP preview on Thursday was only 4000, which is about 1/3 lower than in previous years.

According to the latest report of Basel and UBS art market in 2019, due to the impact of a series of international trade instability such as Sino US trade relations last year, Britain and Europe, the sales volume of global art and antiques in 2019 dropped by 5% compared with the same period last year, to 64 billion 100 million yuan. This year, the outbreak of the new crown will undoubtedly further the international art market environment into the cold winter. For art dealers, TEFAF provides them with the biggest selling opportunity in a year, but the exhibition schedule is blocked by "blocking the waist", which makes it worse for their expected sales this year. Despite tremendous pressure, most of them still expressed respect and understanding in the face of TEFAF's decision. Thomas Gibson Fine Art distributor Hugh Gibson from London said frankly: "because of this news, I am afraid no one is surprised at the fact that the exhibition is closed early. There are not many people in this year, and business has to be done. I know some dealers are relieved, some are disappointed, but personally, I think this is the right thing to do. London based TEFAF exhibitor Stephen Ongpin has brought 39 Museum level paintings from German artist Adolph Menzel in nineteenth Century. He also told New York Times reporters: "everyone is prepared for this difficult art fair. Sales will definitely drop, but I have not heard anyone say they are not happy to be here."

The impact of the suspension is not confined to the venue only, because dealers who come to the exhibition every year will employ large numbers of locals in Maastricht to support the holding of art fairs, from the front desk to the front desk, to the catering attendants, to the cleaners and local drivers, and every link will bring a small upsurge to the local employment and consumption. Therefore, the small town area in southern Holland is inevitably affected by the "secondary disasters".

Amazing works of Masters

No matter how thick the epidemic was, the scene of the TEFAF Art Fair was immediately diluted by the atmosphere of the exhibition. This year, TEFAF Maastricht has exhibited many famous masterpieces, featuring both the main attraction and the "king of rush". Even if the exhibition schedule is shortened, it will not cause them to trade more than ten million and millions of dollars.

One of the most notable works is a painting by Van Gogh, a peasant woman from the Dickinson Gallery in London, which was created in 1885. The origin of the painting is also legendary. Echoing the rural theme of the picture, the painting was first bought at a price of 4 pounds in a farm auction in Staffordshire in 1967. In the following year, it was discovered by an Italian from a London secondhand shop and bought at a price of 45 pounds. The Italy buyer later identified the painting and confirmed that the "Vincent" signed on the lower left corner of the picture was Van Gogh himself. Later, the picture changed hands on Sotheby's four, and auction prices continued to rise, climbing from $110 thousand in 1970 to $1 million 700 thousand in 2001. On the day of the TEFAF Art Fair in March 9th, the cottage oil painting was sold to a private collector at a price of about 17 million dollars, and became the highest price item ever sold at the art fair.

Another million dollar masterpiece also made the same eye. The dealer from Manhattan, Adam Williams, brought the Hendrick ter Brugghen's seventeenth Century oil painting "The Crucifixion" on the cross, and finally traded at a price of $6 million 760 thousand. Adam Williams said in an interview with AD: "I usually do not display such works at the art fair in New York, because American collectors will not appreciate it, only a serious European can understand it."

Though famous for its rich and rare antique works, TEFAF has been constantly adjusting its composition since 2015, hoping to introduce more contemporary art to the exhibition at the core of antique art. The Continua Gallery, the international art dealer, based in San jimano, Italy, is one of the four exhibitors of the first contemporary art section of the first TEFAF Art Fair this year. They chose to exhibit Antony Gormley's life size metal sculpture works, mostly from 2011 to 2012, each priced at about $520 thousand. On the first day of the exhibition, they had successfully traded one of them.

The jewelry unit is shining brighter.

At every TEFAF art fair, there are many kinds of antique senior jewelry dealers and modern high jewellery designers. This year's TEFAF has joined Vhiren Bhagat, a famous jeweler from Mumbai for the first time. There are also Wallace Chan of Hongkong's famous jewelry designer, Taiwan jewelry artist Cindy Chao, Hemmerle family enterprise from Munich, Otto Jakob of Germany Karlsruhe, and Theodoros Theodoros of Athens jeweler, all of which are dazzling charm in this jewelry unit.

Bhagat jewelry brand is known for its traditional India theme, and jewelry artist Viren Bhagat is good at cutting diamond embedded and hidden gold gaps with thin diamonds and gemstones so that the light can penetrate the jewels completely. He does not produce more than 50 jewellery every year, but the products sold each time are eagerly sought after by buyers all over the world. In an interview with Forbes, he said he did not need to participate in the exhibition to sell his works, but he still produced 30 new works for the TEFAF. "I want to open the door to a brand new crowd and a new market," he said.

The famous jewelry artist Wallace Chan of Hongkong brought three new jewellery, one of the most dazzling is a snowflake brooch. The center of the brooch is a 7.86 Carat Yellow Diamond. The rest is a blue, white and pink gemstone decorated with anodized titanium alloy. More ingenious, users can change the appearance of snowflakes by rotating the top structure.

Taiwan jewelry artist Cindy Chao's favorite gem is emerald. The new works are inlaid with 487 different shapes and sizes of green emerald, with a total weight of 172.58 carats. By accurately calculating the angle and height of each stone, the emerald is placed in an interlaced and embossed shape to create a three-dimensional outline and a transparent appearance.

Due to the fact that the epidemic is still difficult to control, TEFAF organizers announced in March 20th that the fourth New York Spring Art Fair, originally scheduled for from May 8th to 11th, was postponed to the autumn, and the New York Autumn Art Fair, originally scheduled for autumn, was abolished in March 20th. According to Artnet, since the original Autumn Art Fair has not started attracting exhibitors, there is no need for TEFAF to refund the exhibitors who have already signed up. But considering that more and more art exhibitions are being postponed to the autumn, the schedule of the dense Autumn Art Exhibition may be a dilemma for dealers who originally intended to participate in the TEFAF Spring Art Fair, but whether they will attend the exhibition in the end is still unknown.

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