Recession goes global, but is art still in an economimc Renaissance?
The art market is stable and still an excellent place to park your money. This was the mantra repeated by almost all dealers exhibiting at the latest edition of Tefaf (The European Fine Art Fair) in the Dutch city of Maastricht, the most prestigious fine and decorative arts fair in the world, held from 13 to 22 March.
The general exception were galleries selling contemporary art, where staff instead spoke of “unique investment opportunities” as prices were revised significantly downward from last year’s fair.
“Old Masters are better than buying gold nuggets if you’re looking for something that will retain value,” said Clovis Whitfield, of the London gallery Whitfield Fine Art, summing up the general message. Mr Whitfield was offering a recently rediscovered and restored Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist, around 1513, by Andrea del Sarto for €8.5m.
Meanwhile, over at the Marlborough Fine Art stand a Francis Bacon painting, Man at a Washbasin, 1989-90, was for sale for $10m. “A year ago it would have been $20m or $25m,” said director Armin Bienger.
If there was concern about the financial situation it did not dampen spirits in the jewellery section of the fair, where elegant European ladies sipped champagne before lunch and tried on bespoke pieces at the stand of the Munich-based House of Hemmerle, whose prices range from €5,000 to €25m and over.
The bread and butter of Maastricht is its Old Masters section, with dealers traditionally waiting for the fair to unveil their most significant purchases and discoveries.
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