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Category :Art Market |
Written by: Elena Lanzanova
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Exceptional Masterpieces At Tefaf Maastricht
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Tuesday 15 March 2011
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In just a few days, the most important art fair of the year will be held in Maastricht: Tefaf (The European Fine Art Fair). From the 18th to the 27th March the Dutch city will be hosting the 24th edition of the world’s most influential ancient and modern art fair, proposing over 30 thousand works – worth about one billion euros – displayed by 260 prestigious names of art and antiques dealers, from sixteen different countries.
Even this year, the main attraction for the International jet set and the general public (in 2010, more the fair had over 73 thousand visitors) will be an extraordinary selection of masterpieces, but also interesting and extremely rare art objects and recent artistic discoveries.
The work that will be most awaited for by collectors and art lovers is definitely Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo, one of the last paintings by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn which is still in private hands, offered for 47 million dollars by the New York gallery Otto Naumann Ldt.
It is an oil on canvas dated 1658, realised during one of the most innovative, but also one of the most difficult periods of the Dutch master’s professional life. In the early Thirties the artist moved to Amsterdam where he immediately achieved great success, penalised however by his lavish lifestyle which led him to bankruptcy in 1656. Luckily, in those ill-fated years, commissions were never missing and so Rembrandt was able to realise Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo, a work whose subject is unknown, although the exotic clothes help us to put forward the theory that it was a person visiting Amsterdam (maybe a sailor or pirate). The only sure thing is that it is an audacious painting, realised with a steady trait, full of material richness and of an extraordinary sensitivity in the use of light, all elements that made Ernst van de Wetering describe it as “one of Rembrandt’s masterpieces”.
Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo has also belonged to some of the world’s most important collectors. The first owner whose identity is known is Daniel Daulby, top English expert of Rembrandt in the late 18th century; while the second owner was George Huntingdon Hartford II, heir of the supermarket chain Atlantic & Pacific (A&P) and belonging to one of the wealthiest families of America. Afterwards, it was owned by the couple J. Seward Johnson and Barbara Piasecka, until in 2009 the work ended up at an auction at Christie’s London, where it was sold for 32.9 million dollars.
Besides this fascinating masterpiece by Rembrandt, the 2011 edition of Tefaf will delight its visitors with works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. An important work which belongs to the early impressionist years and comes from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, will be proposed for 15 million dollars by the Dickinson Gallery. The fantastic canvas, entitled Femme cueillant des fleurs (Woman collecting flowers), portrays Camille Doncieux, the first wife of Renoir’s friend and painter Monet, who died tragically in 1879 at the age of 32 years.
Femme cueillant des fleurs dates back to a crucial period for impressionist art (1874) and also recalls a story of morbid jealousy on behalf of Monet’s second wife towards his first one: during her marriage to the painter, Alice Hoschedé destroyed almost everything that could have been connected to the memory of Camille.
Another work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir to be displayed is a delightful painting depicting his son Claude while he is reading with a teacher. The work, painted in 1906 and privately owned for decades, will be part of an exhibition dedicated to Renoir, to be held soon at the Hammer Galleries in New York. Tefaf Paper – the section dedicated to works on paper introduced in 2010 – will be proposing a watercolour by the artist, offered by Stephen Ongpin Fine Art from London: Study of a Bather will be offered for 125 thousand pounds.
Another star of the 24th Tefaf edition will be Mother and Child Block Seat by Henry Moore, proposed by Landau Fine Art from Montreal. The bronze sculpture, 244 cm tall, belongs to a series of nine pieces realised in 1983, three years before the British artist died. Moreover, the work represents in an elementary and abstract way a child, portrayed in the early stage of his development: the effect of the large figure (mother) protecting the small figure makes it a truly irresistible sculpture.
Among the over 30 thousand works on view in Maastricht we should also mention the last Egyptian watch fragment which is still in private hands: commissioned by Alexander the Great, it portrays the sovereign himself in front of the goddess Hathor in the act of offering her some wine. The object, which dates back to 332-323 B.C., is in a showcase on the stand of the Galerie Harmakhis from Brussels for 150 thousand euros.
Marcel Nies Oriental Art from Antwerp will instead be bringing to the fair a monumental Buddha Dipankara from the 3rd-4th century, a precious sample of Gandhara art, which comes from the Swat valley in the current Pakistan.
There is also a rare sculpture by Gustave Courbet, entitled La Liberté, rediscovered after 130 years and put on the market by Richard Feigen for 630 thousand euros. An interesting work is also Portrait of Gentleman attributed to the Flemish artist Michael Sweerts (offered by Johnny van Haeften for 1.1 million euros). And then: an unusual self-portrait by Bernardo Bellotto (on sale on the Otto Naumann stand for 8.2 million euros) and an extraordinary pair of bronzes by the Renaissance sculptor Tiziano Aspetti from Padua (offered by Altomani & Sons of Milan for about 150 thousand euros).
Last but not least an important idol of the late Neolithic period (approx. 5300-4500 B.C) offered by Rupert Wace Ancient Art from London for one million euros, but also one of the most important works from the early period of Jean Dubuffet (offered by Landau Fine Art from Montreal for 1.5 million euros) and La Veuve by Tamara de Lempicka, canvas presented at Tefaf by Kunsthandel Frans Jacobs from Amsterdam for 300 thousand euros.
Tags: Tefaf, Tamara De lempicka, Jean Dubuffet, Rembrandt, Gustave Courbet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Femme cueillant des fleurs, Bernardo Bellotto, Michael Sweerts, Henry Moore, Tiziano Aspetti, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo
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Tags: Jean Dubuffet, Bernardo Bellotto, Tefaf, Femme cueillant des fleurs, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Henry Moore, Tamara De lempicka, Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Tiziano Aspetti, Rembrandt, Gustave Courbet, Michael Sweerts
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