European fairs in March - Report from Europe - Brief Article

Magazine Antiques, Feb, 2002 by Miriam Kramer

Two fairs in Europe attract visitors from around the world. One of the highlights of the art calendar in Europe is TEFAF (the European Fine Art Fair), known to most as the Maastricht Fair, which takes place this year between March 8 and March 17 in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The fifteenth annual fair comprises 201 art and antiques dealers from thirteen countries who will be offering fine and decorative arts dating from classical times to the modem era.

Last year one of the highlights at Maastricht was a Rembrandt portrait offered by the New York City dealer Otto Naumann. This year, the firm has found another work by the artist--a depiction of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and patroness the arts (illustrated on p. 44). For tickets and information telephone 31-411-64-50-90 or consult the fair Web site (www.tefaf.com).

The dates for Maastricht con veniently overlap with the British Art and Antique Dealers' Association's annual BADA Antiques and Fine Art Fair at the Duke of York's Headquarters in Chelsea, London, from March 13 to March 19. The fair, now in its tenth year, features a loan exhib tion from the National Horseracing Museum at Newmarket, which includes a selection of paintings and related sporting material. Among the highlights are five paintings by Alfred Munnings, two engravings by George Stubbs, sculptures, and trophies, including the Ascot gold vase made by Garrard and Company and presented to Queen Victoria in 1860.

The British are known for their passion for horses, and in the eighteenth century sporting art was so popular that some patrons were prepared to pay more for portraits of their horses than of their wives. The Horseracing Museum was founded in 1983, and the loan exhibition is sponsored by the arts and antiques insurers Aon Artscope, incorporating Needham Jobson. There will be several lectures and other special events.