TEFAF art show begins in Maastricht with Nazi-looted Kandinsky, Van Gogh & Frans Hals

The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) starts again on Thursday in Maastricht. The first two days of the event are by invitation only, with Saturday being the first day open to the public. Representatives of important American and European museums are expected to bring their shopping lists with them when they arrive during the private viewings. Business deals are sometimes immediately closed during the fair.

The painting Tête de paysanne à la coiffe blanche, made by Vincent van Gogh around 1884, is for sale for about five million euros, capturing the attention of many in the Netherlands. However, this fee is relatively cheap compared to, for example, "Blick auf Murnau mit Kirche II," painted by Wassily Kandinsky in 1910. The owner wants at least 50 million dollars for that piece, the art fair confirmed after reporting by The New York Times.

The piece was the subject of controversy for years. It took years of back-and-forth between the descendants of Jewish art collector, Johanna Margarethe Stern-Lippmann, and the Dutch Restitutions Committee before the woman's heirs recovered the piece. The Committee examines claims about art which changed hands under suspicious circumstances during World War II.

When the Committee sided with the the family in 2022, the municipality of Eindhoven took it down from the Van Abbemuseum and returned it to the Stern-Lippmann descendants. They then decided to auction the piece off the following year. It was acquired by the current owner for 45 million dollars.

TEFAF will also have on display two pieces by Frans Hals, who has gained renewed popularity due to the special Hals exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. His artworks will be up for sale, one of which is a portrait of a man with a hat made in 1635. The other is a portrait of a man with a beard from 1630-33. The TEFAF could not provide information about the asking price for these two works.

Another prominent piece is "Man in Red Hat," painted at the end of the 15th century in South Germany. It is considered a somewhat unique piece for the period because of its quality, and its subject matter, which is not religious. The gallery selling the item hopes for proceeds of around 4 million euros for the work by the unknown artist.

Around 270 dealers from 21 countries will be at the art fair, including 18 present for the first time. TEFAF will run for a shorter duration this time, eight days instead of the usual eleven. This is due to many participants saying that TEFAF ran too long in the past.

Around 50,000 visitors are expected. A few will be arriving by private jet. Extinction Rebellion has announced that they will protest against this. The TEFAF has said this is a case for the municipality and the police. At the same time, the art fair said the group has a right to demonstrate and that organizers are "always prepared for everything, for as much as we possibly can be."

This has not always been sufficient in the past. That became apparent two years ago when a sensational an armed robbery took place at the event.