TEFAF Maastricht 2025 is a brush with wonderfully niche art, design and antiquities

On the opening days of TEFAF Maastricht 2025 (15-20 March), high-rolling collectors and art advisors, together with experts from museums and institutions, gathered in suitably stealth-wealth style, elegantly clad in Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli and Hermès. When we visited, Raf Simons and Viktor & Rolf’s Rolf Snoeren were padding the aisles of this, the 38th edition of the fair – TEFAF standing for The European Fine Art Foundation – which blends antiquity and the contemporary with pep and showmanship flair.

Best of TEFAF Maastricht 2025: what we saw

Eyes are always firmly on the prized at TEFAF, as visitors weigh up potential acquisitions in whatever niche they collect, whether 18th-century snuffboxes or Flemish tapestries. But there’s also always time for a glass of something and some sushi in the aisles, and to discuss the prevailing trade winds, including fierce new import/export tariffs. AXA, JP Morgan, Ruinart and Alaïa were key sponsors in this edition, bringing a dose of fashion, luxury, investment and tech into the nexus.

In an effort to woo the new-generation client, galleries were working hard to blend and merge genres, whether that be art nouveau glass and tribal art, or new makers with ancient artisans, in booths that delivered a distinctly domestic appeal, complete with parquet floors and library walls. Such arresting juxtapositions inspire collectors to recalibrate their own domestic environments.

‘In Paris, we held a show last year called “Serendipity” with mixed genres and it worked so well that here at TEFAF, we are continuing that idea,’ said Lucas Ratton, of the eponymous Paris gallery, founded by his great uncle, that was showcasing jewel-coloured art nouveau glass alongside its speciality, tribal art. The booth with its dark green walls, bookshelves and seating evoked a stylish abode. ‘People feel the resonance and it piques curiosity,’ said Ratton.

For Francis Sultana, director and CEO of David Gill Gallery, it was a chance to show off contemporary works and the furniture of German maker Valentin Loellmann, known for his sinuous pieces fusing metal, stained wood and olive velvet in curvilinear forms. ‘All art was once contemporary and the work attracts new customers. Between the museum-quality antiquities, clients can find the relevance and we want to open their eyes,’ said Gill, applauding the fair’s rigorous vetting and educational approach.

At Stuart Lochhead Sculpture, things looked lively with a baroque sculpture by Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654), Executioner (Bozzetto for the Beheading of St Paul in the Church of San Paolo Maggiore, Bologna) (c. 1634), sold to a private collection in America for in the region of €2 million. The display was juxtaposed with exquisite floral works by Shota Suzuki (b. 1987), including a delicate Camellia in copper, silver and gold powder with an asking price of €9,500. The flower studies next to religious relics were a neat marriage of past and contemporary orthodox and pantheistic faiths. Five of Suzuki’s wall sculptures were sold on the first day.

Ceramics are a relatively low entry point compared to old masters and here Pierre Marie Giraud gallery excelled with a mix of contemporary ceramicists including Takayuki Sakiyama, crackled glaze glass mushroom lamps by Jos Devriendt and furniture by Herzog & de Meuron. ‘People have been collecting ceramics for civilisations – it is one of the most ancient expressions of art and it is exciting to see the growing taste. We are in a small, lucky place in a crazy world,’ said director Cedric Beukels.

While prices can reach well into the multi-millions, to attract new customers, Dominique Savelkoul, the new managing director of TEFAF, is launching initiatives to attract a new generation of collectors, including an interactive map that spotlights work under €20,000. Ancient Roman and Greek antiquities can offer comparative value, with a black glazed Greek amphora at Charles Ede for €7000 and an Egyptian carnelian falcon pendant jewellery at €2,000 from Kallos Gallery.

In the hierarchy of painting, Alberto Giacometti, Gerhard Richter, Tracey Emin, Titian, Ai Weiwei, Hokusai, and Jan Davidsz. de Heem are among the fine art highlights from across the centuries. The most expensive artwork this year is a 1965 Picasso painting, Les Dormeurs, with an asking price of $50 million at Landau Fine Art. There was a beeline for Richard Saltoun’s solo display of surrealist paintings and drawings by the Palestinian-born Lebanese artist Juliana Seraphim (1934-2005), chiming with the desire for underplayed female artists.

In another life, I’d have gone home with the dreamy metalwork bed with phoenix and cabbage-leaf motifs by Claude Lalanne at Galerie Lefebvre, on the market for €250,000. With its sheepskin and wool coverings, in a room set featuring an Alberto Giacometti wall sculpture of a white bird, it was love at first sight. ‘There is a good amount of work by Les Lalannes around but not too much, and the bed is one of a kind. The appeal is so universal: it is humorous, joyful, surreal,’ says Yana Mihailuka of Galerie Lefebvre, Paris. Architect Peter Marino, the Rothschilds and Yves Saint Laurent are among the roll call of patrons past and present. Sweet collector dreams.

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