The Maastricht Art Fair, where Collectors (not Browsers) gather
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Guy Trebay
The sort of buyers one sees at the Maastricht art fair are not only gratified by their own monograms or cyphers, but also have titles and crests. “Collecting is about connecting to people and sharing,” said Mr. Gabr, whose dark sunglasses were perhaps worn as protection against the blinding gloss of pictures varnished and restored to the high finish modern collectors seem to prefer [Shafik Gabr, a billionaire Egyptian financier].
Dealers who arrived at the fair, which opened for an invitation-only preview on March 15, fretful that the economic woes of the euro zone would cut into sales, seemed to breathe more easily when big-ticket items sold quickly. Maastricht is a long fair — 10 days — and it is too early to gauge the final results. Yet perhaps what the New York antiques dealer Carlton Hobbs called “the flight to beauty” among the super wealthy was evidenced by the fact that, within hours of the fair’s preview opening, a Rubens Crucifixion sold for perhaps as much as $3.9 million to a Boston couple....)....[link]
By Guy Trebay
The sort of buyers one sees at the Maastricht art fair are not only gratified by their own monograms or cyphers, but also have titles and crests. “Collecting is about connecting to people and sharing,” said Mr. Gabr, whose dark sunglasses were perhaps worn as protection against the blinding gloss of pictures varnished and restored to the high finish modern collectors seem to prefer [Shafik Gabr, a billionaire Egyptian financier].
Dealers who arrived at the fair, which opened for an invitation-only preview on March 15, fretful that the economic woes of the euro zone would cut into sales, seemed to breathe more easily when big-ticket items sold quickly. Maastricht is a long fair — 10 days — and it is too early to gauge the final results. Yet perhaps what the New York antiques dealer Carlton Hobbs called “the flight to beauty” among the super wealthy was evidenced by the fact that, within hours of the fair’s preview opening, a Rubens Crucifixion sold for perhaps as much as $3.9 million to a Boston couple....)....[link]
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