Though TEFAF is more about considered sales spread out over its duration than a mad rush on the first day, London's Coll & Cortes was one gallery that had a successful preview day. Director Andreas Pampoulides said they had made three important sales during the opening, including that of a large Caravagesque oil of Thales of Miletus by the Baroque painter Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652), for a low seven-figure sum.
Early works of art sales included an archaic bronze bo or bell (pictured here), dating to the Early Warring States Period (475-221BC), sold to a new collector by Vanderven Oriental Art with an asking price of 1.2m euros.
Some early sales also materialised within Night Fishing, an area of Modern and Contemporary sculpture curated by Sydney Picasso, a new initiative intended to complement the TEFAF Modern section. These included that of Torso Rosa (No. X. '93), a painted limewood piece by Georg Baselitz, sold for €1.4m.
The fair continues until March 22 and a full review of the fair will feature in ATG No 2185.
