Maastricht in all its glory

Strolling the late night streets of Maastricht after the opening day preview of the European Fine Art Fair. 11:45 PM. Photo: JH.

“What is the name of the New York socialite whose grandmother used to work in the windows of the Sex District of Amsterdam?” he asked me with a knowing smile on his face.

“I wouldn’t know,” I answered, pretending; “A grandmother?”

“Well, she wasn’t a grandmother back then.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Well, if you don’t know...” he continued coyly; “I thought you knew these things....” and then he laughed, and disappeared into the throng.

We were were at the opening day preview of The European Fine Art Fair, known by its acronym TEFAF, maneuvering through the crowds jamming the wide broad aisles named after New Bond Street, Fifth Avenue, Faubourg Saint Honore, Madison Avenue, Place Vendome, Via Veneto, etc. My “inquiring” friend passing by was a European who reads the NYSD “religiously” and was obviously challenging (successfully) my “insider” knowledge with a morsel of more localized interest.

Enzo Sperone and Angela Westwater with an Evan Penny.

Of all the Art Fairs that we cover on the NYSD, this annual gathering is by far the largest and most fantastic. Almost 9000 invited guests came on the first day to see the amazing collections of antiques and works of art -- paintings, drawings, prints; modern art, classical antiquities and Egyptian works of art valued at more than $1 billion and filling more than 200 booths which occupy the sprawling center.

A Willem de Kooning went for $5 million in the first hour at the Hauser and Wirth installation. Over at Sperone Westwater Gallery, the Jan Worst hanging outside the exhibition stall was sold for 150,000 euros in the first half hour and was followed by five more attempts to buy it soon after. Mr. Worst who takes months to complete a work and turns out less than four paintings a year told JH that he wished he could turn things out in a few hours like some other painters but alas ...

Jan Worst with his work outside Sperone Westwater.

Sperone Westwater. Bertozzi & Casoni, Brillo Box, 2007. Glazed ceramic.

Over at the London-based Dickinson, TEFAF board member, the American art historian/ dealer, Michel Witmer was carefully explaining (through an interpreter) who Vincent van Gogh was to a Chinese delegation making their first visit to the Fair as they gazed upon the $30 million portrait of a girl child -- said to be Vincent’s last painting -- that is being sold with proceeds earmarked for a charity focusing on children’s issues and needs.

At the Noortmann exhibition stall, a crowd was gathered around a rare portrait by Rembrandt on sale for $2 million. At Rupert Mace Ancient Art, a Roman head sold for 425,000 euros (or $650,000 at yesterday’s prices). I ran into a woman friend from New York who’d just come from the Graff booth where she said the $1 million diamonds were selling like it was the last day of the sale. The large exhibition space of the highly esteemed (and imitated) Belgian dealer/designer Axel Vervoordt was swarming with admirers paying tribute to the man and buyers deep in negotiation and consideration.

The $30 million van Gogh.

The Noortman Rembrandt.

There were fantastic highlights such as the wooden seated figure of Guanyin. China, at the Ben Janssens Oriental Art Ltd. booth. Song or Jin dynasty, between the 11th to 13th centuries, the piecee was once in the collection of New Yorkers Earl and Irene Morse and for years commanded a spectacular view of Manhattan from Mr Morse’s offices in the dome on the top floor of the Chrysler building. Yours for only 800,000 euros ($1.24 million).

At Pelham, Paris, JH photographed a “fine pair of Genoese Baroque gilt wood candelabras in the form of classical female figures holding baskets of fruit attributed to Filippo Parodi who worked in Genoa during the last quarter of the 17th century. Few such candelabras have survived and the majority are now in public collections or have remained in Genoese palaces. the extremely rare unique pieces were going for €650,000 for the pair.

Charles Beddington Ltd., London. Luca Carlevarijs (1663-1730) The Molo, Venice, looking West. This is an unpublished work by the great Venetian view painter who remained the unrivalled master of this genre until the mid-1720’s when illness put an end to his career and his successor, in the form of the young Canaletto, began to emerge.

Koetser Gallery Ltd, Zurich. Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), A winter landscape with figures on the ice near a windmill. This previously unknown oil painting by Avercamp has been in a private collection since about 1950. 23 x 31 cm. Price: €1.6 million.

At Galerie Thomas of Munich, among their collection was a Alexej von Jawlensky oil on cardboard of a Spanish Lady for €4.5 million (or $6.88 million).

At Stair Sainty Ltd.of London (formerly of New York), they were showing an Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, Le sommeil d’Endymion (le blond). Circa 1808-10. This painting is a recent discovery, a superb second version of a painting hanging in the Louvre in Paris that may have been commissioned by Louis Bonaparte, the French Emperor’s young brother, who was King of Holland. It is thought to have been acquired by the Duke of Reggio, shortly after it was painted and has remained with his descendants until recently. Price: €750,000 or $1.1475 million.

Above: Lining up at the bar in front of the exhibtion stall of Jack Kilgore & Otto Naumann, New York.

Right: Didier Aaron. This painting was recently discovered (was believed to be lost) and painted in 1775 by the French painter Callet. Only a smaller version and a black and white drawing were thought to have previously existed.

The preview opened at 11 in the morning and by 8 in the evening, the aisles were still crowded with visitors, dealers, collectors interspersed by waitstaff dispensing Veuve Cliquot by the magnum, trays of white wine, orange juice, water, bars of dispensing wines; trays being passed mid-day of sandwiches and then in early evening chefs’ carts with rectangular plates of hors d’oeuvres, then tiny portions of first courses, second courses, and desserts which guests were eating while assembled around the carts or seated on the sofa-benches in the aisles or while touring more of the installations.

About 8:30 or 9 o’clock the last of the day’s crowd were making their way out of the exhibiition center, many invigorated but exhausted from the hours and hours of touring the exhibitions, heads full of visions of masterpieces, astonishing works of art, furniture; nobody disappointed. Outside waiting were fleets of brand new VW Phaetons, the luxury sedan (that begins at 70,000 euros) with drivers to take those of us without transportation back to our hotels or restaurants.

Galerie Thomas, Munich. Alexej von Jawlensky (1864-1941), Spanish Lady. Oil on cardboard, 53.7 x 49.6 cm. Price: €4.5 million.

Ben Janssens Oriental Art Ltd, London. A wooden seated figure of Guanyin. China, Song or Jin dynasty, 11th to 13th centuries. This wooden figure was once in the collection of Earl and Irene Morse in New York where it commanded a spectacular view of Manhattan from Mr Morse’s offices in the dome on the top floor of the Chrysler building. Price: €800,000.

Stair Sainty Ltd., London. Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, Le sommeil d’Endymion (le blond). Circa 1808-10.
This recent discovery of a superb second version of a painting hanging in the Louvre in Paris may have been commissioned by Louis Bonaparte, the French Emperor’s young brother, who was King of Holland. It is thought to have been acquired by the Duke of Reggio, shortly after it was painted and has remained with his descendants until recently. Price: €750,000.

David Tunick, Inc., New York. The famous Melancholia I engraving by Albrecht Dürer dating from 1514. 241 x 188 mm. The Melancholia was once in the collection of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, where it was considered the finest example of its kind in America. It has been in the ownership of a foundation ever since.

Pelham, Paris. A fine pair of Genoese Baroque gilt wood candelabras in the form of classical female figures holding baskets of fruit attributed to Filippo Parodi who worked in Genoa during the last quarter of the 17th century. Few such candelabras have survived and the majority are now in public collections or have remained in Genoese palaces. It is extremely rare for this uniquely Italian type of carved furniture to appear on the market. Price: €650,000 for the pair.

Above: The passing parade and menu items.

Right: Galerie Canesso, Paris. Domenico Marolì, Messina, c. 1612 - 1676. Euclid of Megara Dressing as a Woman to go Hear Socrates Teach in Athens. Oil on canvas. (139.5 x 223.5 cm). Collection of Giovanni Nani (1623-1679), Venice, 17th century; private collection, France, late 19th and 20th century.

Willem Baron van Dedem

David Tunick

Waring Hopkins of Galerie Hopkins Custot

Niky Ribolzi and her daughter at the Adriano Ribolzi Gallery

Barbara Veldkamp and Irma Jansen

Robert Couturier and Jeffrey Morgan

Christina and Matteo Grassi

Sue and Ann Madonia with Axel Vervoordt

The Kugel brothers

Michel Witmer, Iwana Chronis, Els Vanderplas, Omara Khan Massoudi, and Fariba Drakhanshani

Emily Frick and Evelyn Tompkins

Later that night, after a couple hours of feet up and organizing notes, JH and I took another one of those fifteen minute walks through the beautiful old center of Maastricht, heading for il giardino, the Italian restaurant which is very very popular. The proprietors came from Sicily in 1990 in much the same spirit as previous generations went to America to start a new life, and started this wonderful restaurant featuring Neapolitan and Sicilian fare, and found a great success. We ran into some familiar faces from New York including Alex Gregory who was dining with the Grassi family (who have an exhibition stall at TEFAF) and New York public relations guru Vanessa von Bismarck. It was a convivial atmosphere full of talk and laughter and excellent Italian fare.

Clockwise from top left: Riggo Vincenzo, owner of il giardino; The lasagna; The veal; Fresh bouquet of flowers on our table with the door flung open to the wine cellar behind.

Back out onto the streets of Maastricht passing by the Church of Our Lady bathed in yellow.