MAASTRICHT.- The Fair is often referred to as a museum in which everything is for sale. The breadth and quality of objects are admired throughout the world. In 2011 TEFAF attracted visitors from over 181 museums from 20 countries. Principal sponsor AXA Art brought more than 2,000 collectors to TEFAF this year. At Maastricht-Aachen airport 154 private aircrafts landed during the course of the Fair. Next year TEFAF celebrates its 25th anniversary from 16-25 March 2012. The Mayor of Maastricht, Onno Hoes, said, “The City of Maastricht and TEFAF are inseparable and are of great mutual benefit. I very much look forward to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Fair next year and the City looks forward to working with the Fair over the next quarter century”

TEFAF is widely acknowledged as the world’s most influential art Fair. The Fair closed on Sunday 27th March. The focus during the Fair is on the extraordinary works of art that leading specialists from around the world exhibit at the Fair but its impact on the local economy stretches far beyond the confines of the Fair.

The Mayor of Maastricht, Onno Hoes, said, “The City of Maastricht and TEFAF are inseparable and are of great mutual benefit. I very much look forward to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Fair next year and the City looks forward to working with the Fair over the next quarter century”.

Maastricht-Aachen airport commented that TEFAF is always their busiest period of the year. 154 private aircrafts landed at the airport during the course of the Fair and one of the runways had to be converted into a parking area to accommodate the large number of private aircraft landing at the Fair.

TEFAF is often referred to as a museum in which everything is for sale. The breadth and quality of objects are admired throughout the world. This year TEFAF attracted visitors from over 181 museums from 20 countries.

“The European Fine Art fair has once again proved to be unrivalled. We have brought more than 2,000 collectors to TEFAF this year, of which over 1,000 have participated in our guided tours around the Fair”, Cornelia Zinken of AXA Art, TEFAF’s principal sponsor.

Each year visitors marvel at the extraordinary presentation of the Fair. Creating such an elegant environment is a major logistical operation involving hundreds of people.

The Fair occupies an area of 31,000m² and takes 25 days to build. The construction materials take up 12,000m³ and are transported on 200 trailers. Over 200 men and women work round the clock to build the Fair in the given time frame.

Flowers are a signature feature of TEFAF Maastricht. This year’s design required 22,500 carnations, 18,000 tulips, 7,500 anemones and ranunculus as well as 250 branches of magnolia. These are changed twice during the course of the Fair by 16 florists. In 2011 a total of 144,000 flowers were used throughout the Fair.

From 18-27 March 2011, TEFAF was home to 260 specialists from 16 different countries. Between them they exhibited more than 30,000 works of art, antiques and design from different civilizations stretching from the dawn of time to the present day with an aggregate value of in excess of 2 billion euros. TEFAF Antiques is the largest section of the Fair with 97 exhibitors. This is followed by TEFAF Paintings with 64 and TEFAF Modern with 46.

Of TEFAF Maastricht, Michel Bismut a leading interior designer from Paris said, “TEFAF Maastricht is an inspiration. It is wonderful to spend time in each section of the Fair and see the juxtaposition of so many extraordinary objects. Without doubt, the experience helps me advise my clients”.

Before the fair opens to the public each work of art is examined for quality, authenticity and condition by 168 international experts in 29 vetting committees. The vetting process takes a total of 2,184 man hours.

Anthony Speelman, Chairman of the Paintings Vetting Committees commented, “This year exhibitors had clearly saved their best paintings for the Fair, the quality was consistently high and the vetting process was very smooth”.

During the course of the Fair TEFAF welcomed 73,574 visitors from 55 countries around the world, more than 10,000 of whom attended the Fair on the Preview day. Refreshments were served throughout the preview, which lasted nine hours. 100 cooks prepared more than 150,000 canapés, which were served by 400 waiting staff. 100,000 glasses were used to serve drinks from 1,800 bottles of champagne, 3,500 bottles of wine as well as beer and soft drinks.

Commenting on the attendance at the Fair, Ben Janssens, Chairman of TEFAF said, “I am delighted to have seen such an increase in visitors from mainland China and I find it particularly remarkable that they have made acquisitions in many different areas and not only Chinese art”.

Next year the European Fine Art Fair celebrates its 25th anniversary from 16-25 March 2012.