TEFAF Maastricht 1998 [antikvár]

Foreword dave aronson — Chairman Antiquoin leslie waddington - Chairman Pictura Maastricht awarded The European Fine Art Foundation with the Award of Honour of the city of Maastricht for exceptional services rendered with regard to promoting the city of Maastricht. the founding members of the foundation by the Burgomaster of Maastricht, Mr Ph. Houben. From left to right Jan Dirven, Clemens van der Ven, Mr Ph. Houben, Jacob Stodel and Evert Douwes Sr. As first among equals, tefaf Maastricht has entered the second decennium of its existence. Once again, the halls of the mecc are full of treasures and Maastricht has become the 'Global Village', offering an impressive array of art and antiques. This year, we welcome 176 participants to the fair, more than ever before. To increase the size of the fair further would mean sacrificing the spacious presentation we have grown to expect. The end of Maastricht 1997 signalled the end of Jan Dirven's term of office as chairman of the antiquairs section. He was not only chairman antiquairs from 1993-1997, but also one of tefaf's 'founding fathers' and played, together with his wife Josephine, a crucial role in the foundation and development of tefaf Maastricht. In his function of chairman Antiquairs, he was one of the initiators of the 1994 loan exhibition 'Treasures from The Hermitage St Petersburg'. The exhibition 'Ivory Treasures from the nth to the 14th Century' in 1997 was also the result of his initiative. It is difficult to do justice to Jan Dirven's contribution to tefaf in the limited space available here, but suffice it to say that his stability, his modesty and his loyalty make him a perfect colleague. We are very pleased that he has agreed to continue as board member, which will enable us to benefit from his broad experience for many years to come. A year ago, Hans König announced his intention to retire as President of tefaf, a role he fulfilled from 1993 to 1998. It is equally impossible, in his case to do justice in a few sentences to his enormous contribution to the development of tefaf. He was very much the figurehead of the Foundation, the personification of style, decorum and quality, which he combined with a great international appeal. His linguistic skills, his knowledge of art and antiques and his expertise in the field of the textile arts enabled him to communicate with everybody, whatever the subject. During his term of office he played a crucial role in the negotiations and composition of the loan exhibition 'Treasures from The Hermitage St Petersburg'. This important exhibition gready enhanced the status of tefaf world wide and impressed both, the visitors to the fair and the representatives from the museums alike. It also doubled the number of visitors to the fair to 60,000. Hans König's inspired leadership also saw the birth of tefaf Basel, which has now been held three times. He competently dealt with tefaf's involvement in complicated issues of international law, such as Unidroit and Droit-de-suite. Behind every great man is a great woman; in Hans's case his charming wife Marion. Hans is above all a family man, being both a father and a grandfather, and he was able to extend this 'family-feelings' to his role as President of tefaf, which became his European Fine Art Family. As members of this extended family, our gratitude to him for everything he has done for us is immeasurable. In Willem Baron van Dedem we have found a worthy successor as President of tefaf. With his international background, his knowledge of legal matters, his love of art and antiques and, last but not least, his charming wife, Ronny, tefaf enters the next millennium with confidence. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the efforts of both our interim manager Cees van Gelder and our director Paul Hustinx, who have succeeded in bringing the secretariat to its present high level of efficiency.