The latest edition of the Maastricht art fair has been a real success and it has come with the public opening of one of the largest art exhibition ever dedicated to Johannes Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, sold out four days after the opening.
That's why we can affirm that the Netherlands are in the running to steal the primacy of art capital from post-brexit London.
Let’s start talking about TEFAF, which goes in the opposite direction compared to the cancellation of Masterpiece London 2023. In fact, the results of the thirty-sixth edition (270 exhibitors from 20 countries) of the art fair that brings together seven thousand years of history went beyond expectations.
Many sales were also carried out by cultural institutions: as many as 250 museum board committees were present at the opening reserved to VIP personalities.
The extremely elegant design of the exhibition space inside the Mecc also contributed to the success of the event. It was perfect for containing the single galleries spaces.
Among them the Italian ones standed out.
Like Caretto & Occhinegro Gallery from Turin, which sold the painting "Group portrait as a mirror of the Virtues" by Nicolas Maes for 600,000 € and a small oil on a circular panel by the Flemish landscape artist Herri Met de Bles (about 80,000 €).
Instead Alessandra di Castro Antiquity presented a collection of 35 little mosaics, executed in Rome between the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. They sold, among others, a head of Medusa on a black marble background signed by Gioacchino Barberi (120,000 Euros).
Moving on to an international level, the London-based Trinity Fine Art, owned by the esteemed Italian gallerist Carlo Orsi, has sold a "Portrait of a scholar" by Tintoretto.







The modern and contemporary side also registered important results: the gallery Bottegantica from Milan sold a large 1929 artwork by Enrico Prampolini, "Metamorphosis of the deities or The triumph of mechanical civilization" (180,000 €), while Mazzoleni shown two interesting works by Fontana: a single red cut from 1966 (estimated 1 million €) and one “Concetto spaziale” from 1955 (approximately 2 million €). Also Salamon Fine Art presented a large crystal work by the Italian master for € 1.6 million.

On the other hand, analyzing the art exhibition scenario, the great exhibition dedicated to Johannes Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum made the news. It can be visited until June the 4th 2023, but it is already sold out in advance. This is the most complete exhibition on the great painter of Delft ever made, with 28 out of the 35 canvases created by the artist. To bring them all together, pieces from private USA and Japan collections have been added to the masterpieces owned by the museum itself.







Moving away from the capital to The Hague, another interesting exhibition captures the attention of art lovers.
Thee one about Jacobus Vrel at the Mauritshuis museum. Vermeer’s forerunner, Vrel remained unpopular for a long period of time: now his figure is analyzed through twenty masterpieces which will then be exhibited in Paris.
For sure the Netherlands are increasingly at the center of the scene, at least artistically.