Sunday, 25 October 2026

TEFAF Maastricht 2026 | Art & Antiques Fair in Maastricht | MECC

TEFAF Maastricht 2026
Art & Antiques Fair in Maastricht

TEFAF Maastricht 2026

Art & Antiques Fair in Maastricht

TEFAF Maastricht 2026

Visits to museums, castles and antiques fairs are important sources of inspiration for the woodcarver.

These are places where the craftsman draws his ideas from, places where he seeks out new challenges, encounters new surprises and always feels he is learning something new.

To see how fellow woodcarvers 100, 200 or 300 years ago solved their technical problems when creating their works of art, and to appreciate the tasteful proportions they applied in timeless interiors and decoration.

In the 40 years I’ve been working with ornamentation, you’ve come to know where – in which museum or castle – you’ll find what sort of ornament, style, character and quality. Or in which castle it might be possible to take photographs or… make notes, should that be necessary.

At an antiques fair, you simply ask the stallholder if you’re allowed to take photos; they’ll usually let you, because they don’t know you and perhaps – just maybe – you might be a potential customer for them.

The European Fine Art Fair, TEFAF 2026

In this blog post, we’re visiting TEFAF in Maastricht – let’s not hesitate to say it’s the annual event that is eagerly anticipated worldwide.

At TEFAF, the world’s finest and most expensive paintings, sculptures and jewellery are exhibited to potential buyers. The fair is divided into nine sections: Paintings, Antiques, Modern, Design, Paper, Classical Antiquities, Manuscripts,.....

A total of 277 art, antiques and design dealers are taking part, representing Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Korea, Monaco, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Spain, the United States, Uruguay and Switzerland...

The organisers ensure the quality, condition and authenticity of the exhibited artworks by having all works inspected before the fair opens by a team of around 170 experts, divided into approximately 28 committees, with the Art Loss Register also involved.

Admission isn’t cheap (85 euros) and parking costs 21 euros. It takes me about five hours to visit the most important sections of the fair; by then my ‘hard drive’ is full, so you end up walking past paintings by Rembrandt, Picasso, Rubens, and so on, without really taking them in. As usual, I give contemporary art (‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’) a wide berth.