“As the global art community experiences limited mobility with travel restrictions and social distancing, we are proud to bring to fruition our hope to make art in all its varied forms more accessible via digital innovation.” Hidde van Seggelen, TEFAF Chairman, announcing the launch of TEFAF’s new digital platform, TEFAF Online – which hosts its inaugural Fair between 1 and 4 November with preview days on 30 and 31 October.
With large-scale international events impossible at the current time – including TEFAF’s annual New York Fair – TEFAF has accelerated the development of its online marketplace in response to the on-going COVID-19 crisis. TEFAF Online enables 283 exhibitors to be directly accessible to buyers in real-time, presenting 7,000 years of art history.
Upholding TEFAF’s tradition of presenting only the finest quality, the organisers of TEFAF Online have introduced a ‘masterpiece’ format through which each exhibitor will showcase a single work of art which best represents their expertise. Using video, images and additional text, each exhibitor is able to explain their choice and to share their passion for their area of speciality. In addition, the platform includes a live interactive component so that collectors and exhibitors can engage with each other directly.
TEFAF believes that this approach offers a new dimension in the digital fair space, and it has been developed to ensure that the experience of attending the digital Fair evokes an intensity comparable with walking into a dealer’s gallery.
A historic first for TEFAF, the organisation believes that this new platform points to the future of the global art market, and that it will become a permanent feature alongside the traditional TEFAF Fairs. Exhibitors will be “just a click away” to new and existing collectors, according to TEFAF, and through this platform dealers have the opportunity to reach a new generation of buyers.
Every work presented at TEFAF Online has been vetted through digital means by TEFAF’s independent vetting committees.
Exhibitors include Agnews, Gagosian, Levy Gorvy, Kunsthandel Mehringer, Pace, Perrotin, David Zwirner
To register for TEFAF Online, please visit https://www.tefaf.com/
Image: Pace Gallery, New York, Donald Judd (Excelsior Springs 1928-1994 New York City), ‘Untitled’, Green anodized aluminum, 12.7 x 101.6 x 22.9 cm (5 x 40 x 9 in.), 1988