Jean Dewasne, Apothéose de Marat, 1951. © Jean Dewasne, ADAGP 2015
The 2015 edition of TEFAF adamantly presents itself as a promise of success, each stand revealing their discoveries from the past year. Among the 280 dealers present this year, 52 galleries are representing Modern and contemporary art, displayed alongside antiquities, design and Old Masters.
The ever-present superstars of Modern art
The first stands that visitors will come across at the fair are the Modern art galleries, beautiful as always, littered with Picasso; a particularly striking example of which can be found at Landau Fine Art, alongside a sublime little Fauve painting by André Derain, Bateaux sur la plage à Collioure (1905). Max Ernst has a noticeable presence this year and is featured at Hopkins gallery with La Carmagnole et Figure zoomorphe, 1928; Richard Nagy Gallery, Connaught Brown gallery, London, and at Jaques de la Béraudière, Geneva.
Hopkins is also presenting a Victor Hugo ink work of particular quality, Le Château fantastique (1847-1855). Next we come to Von Vertes, displaying a Kandinsky. Marlborough is presenting works by Klee and two Kurt Schwitters 1947 collages. Boulakia gallery’s stand is axed on six Marc Chagall works, making reference to the Musée des Beaux Arts de Bruxelles’ current retrospective, these pieces depicting lovers, le coq and the circus, themes very dear to the artist.
Hommage to Italy
Alberto Biasi, Edoardo Landi, Ennio Chiggio and Gruppo N were again well represented this year at The Mayor Gallery London, who also highlight the cinematic works of Walter Leblanc, Carlos Cruz Diez and Günther Vecker. At Robilant + Voena, we took a particular liking to a small Alberto Burri work from 1952. Elsewhere, the Italians seemed to hold important ground, led by Cardi Gallery who dedicated their stand to Lucio Fontana, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jannis Kounellis, Agostino Bonalumi and Piero Manzoni. Porro Fine Arts, Lugano and Tornabuoni, Paris, show their ever-lasting loyalty to Fontana.
COBRA and Geometric Abstraction
The COBRA group is traditionally present at Maastricht, the striking works of Corneille and Karel Appel are on display at Jasky Gallery whilst Rueb Kunsthandel have also chosen to highlight the work of Appel, displayed alongside Doucent, Turi Sumeti, David Nash and Marc Quinn, resulting in a slightly more contemporary register.
Group Zero, Taner Ceylan, Kapoor and Lee Ufan
Heinz Mack of Group Zero’s 1960s works are represented at Beck & Eggeling, including Silberrelief from 1967. His contemporary, Otto Piene, can be found at Galerie Thomas. The gallery is also exhibiting Merkaba by Anselm Kiefer, a 2004 work measuring 5x3 meters, from a private German collection.
Kukje Gallery, Seoul and Tina Kim Gallery, New York. ceramic: Yeesookyung,
"Translated Vase" (2014), background: Lee Ufan
Hidde Van Seggelen gallery gives a first glimpse of Das Fragment an Sich (1994-2015) an installation by the Japanese artist Suchan Kinoshita which features a piano with a score written by Nietzch. This piece is displayed alongside Dry Spring (2007), an incongruous sculpture assemblage in resin, aluminium and artificial flowers by Irish artist Siobhan Hapaska. Paul Kasmin gallery from New York features a bronze sculpture by Taner Ceylan entitled Moon Tale (2014) whilst Kukje Gallery and Tina Kim present Anish Kapoor’sRandom Triangle Mirror (2015) alongside Lee Ufan canvases and terra cottas from 2005 to 2006. Ufan is also featured at Gana Art with the work From Line (1978).
TEFAF, whose doors will close on March 22, is as rich and full of surprise and discovery as ever, it is sure therefore that each visitor will find what they came for, be them dealer, collector, art-lover or casual visitor.
1 multi painted satellite dish. 193 x 193 x 48,3 cm. Hans MAYER, Düsseldorf
Siobhan Hapaska, Dry Spring, 2007. Galerie HIDDE VAN SEGELEN, Montevideo
