by Redazione 20/10/2026
Categories: Market / Disclaimer
The 2026 editions of TEFAF Maastricht and TEFAF New York reaffirm the fair’s central role in international institutional collecting. All the most significant acquisitions by museums and institutions around the world.
From Renaissance paintings to ancient sculptures, from tapestries to works of modern design, TEFAF continues to be one of the most important events for the international art market and for the enrichment of public collections. The European Fine Art Foundation has announced the major acquisitions made by museums and institutions during the 2026 editions of TEFAF Maastricht, March 14–19, and TEFAF New York, May 15–19.
Throughout 2026, TEFAF welcomed over 600 museum directors and curators, as well as 130 groups of international patrons. Among the institutions in attendance were the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Hong Kong Palace Museum, along with numerous other European, American, and Asian museums.
From Lavinia Fontana to Rubens: Paintings Acquired by Museums
Among the most significant acquisitions is Lavinia Fontana’s *Christ Driving the Merchants from the Temple*, offered by Trinity Fine Art and purchased bythe Art Institute of Chicago. The work marks an important milestone for the American museum, as it is the first painting by the artist to enter the museum’s collection. The same museum also acquired *Hercules Kills* by Lamar West, offered by Nicolaas Teeuwisse, who also sold *Saint Paul* by Geoffroy Dumonstier to the Rijksmuseum and *The Sultan’s Caravan to Mecca Series* by Joseph-Marie Vien to the National Gallery of the United Kingdom.
The Rijksmuseum also acquired a wax portraitof Hieronymus Baumgartner the Younger, a Nuremberg city councilor, created by Carl Matthäus and sold by the Kunstkammer Georg Laue.
The J. Paul Getty Museum has enriched its collections with Cuno Amiet’s *Portrait of Rosa Luder*, offered by Bottegantica, and with Georges Lemmen’s *Portrait of His Sister Julie Crocheting*, sold by Gallery 19C.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art, meanwhile, has acquired several notable paintings: The Burial of Johann Rottenhammer, offered by Stephen Ongpin Fine Art; Madonna and Child with Saint Francis by Francesco Raibolini, known as “il Francia,” offered by Rob Smeets; and two portraits of a father and son offered by the Weiss Gallery. These two portraits had been separated in 1885 and were reunited for the first time at TEFAF Maastricht.
Other acquisitions include *Arc-en-ciel No. 5* by Robert Delaunay, sold by Willoughby Gerrish to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and *Bacchanal with a Satyr,* a nymph, and cherubs by Charles-Dominique-Joseph Eisen, purchased by the Worcester Art Museum through Stephen Ongpin Fine Art.
The King Baudouin Foundation acquired from Day & Faber a sheet by Peter Paul Rubens featuring Three Men in Classical Attire on the front and a draft letter regarding a painting commission by Eleonora de’ Medici on the reverse. The work was subsequently loaned to the Rubenshuis in Antwerp. Also from the same gallery is the *Diafanorama* depicting the Purim festival in the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam, which has entered the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
Other works have found their way to major international institutions: Marie Bracquemond’s *Still Life with Oranges* was acquired by the Saint Louis Museum, while Juliette Roche’s *Maison et jardin* entered the Chrysler Museum’s collection thanks to PAVEC. Maerten de Vos’ s *The Descent of Christ into Limbo* was sold by Haboldt & Co.to the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation in Houston.
The Meadows Museum in Dallas acquired Mateo Cerezo’s *Apparition of the Virgin and Child to St. Francis of Assisi*, offered by Caylus, while the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin added to its collections *Au bord de la mer* by Odilon Redon, offered by Connaught Brown, and Pablo Picasso’s *Pigeon*(1943), offered by the Utermann Gallery.
Women’s Art Finds Its Way into New Collections
The acquisitions of 2026 also highlight a growing focus on women artists and their contribution to art history.
In addition to the inclusion of Lavinia Fontana in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collections, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam acquired *L’homme est en mer* by Virginie Demont-Breton, offered by Gallery 19C. The artist was a source of inspiration for Vincent van Gogh, and the painting marks the third work by a female artist to enter the museum’s collection.
This same focus is evident in the Birmingham Museum of Art’s acquisition of *Traute Rose* by Lotte Laserstein and *Pescatrice* by Virginie Demont-Breton, through Colnaghi Elliott. The North Carolina Museum of Art, meanwhile, acquired *Self-Portrait at the Easel* by Henriette Daux, offered by Antonacci Lapiccirella Fine Art.
Other works that have entered public collections include *Portrait of a Young Man * by Elise Bruyère, acquired by the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen through Galerie Michel Descours, and *Opstand (Surge) * by Eva Helene Pade, purchased by the Muzeum Susch through Thaddaeus Ropac.
The Chrysler Museum of Art also acquired *Landscape with a Stream and Trees* by J. J. Frey, presented by Antonacci Lapiccirella Fine Art, while the Limburgs Museum added *Portrait of the Writer Frans Erens* by G. H. Breitner, proposed by Kunstgalerij Albricht.
Ancient Sculptures and Archaeological Artifacts: From the Vase of Nero to the Stele of Medea
The acquisitions announced by TEFAF also include important examples of antiquity and historical sculpture.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased from Tomasso a 14th-century marble figure depicting a kneeling man. The Yale University Art Gallery, meanwhile, acquired from Stuart Lochhead Sculpture the so-called Vase of Nero, a 1st-century A.D. work that was once part of the Domus Transitoria, the residence of Emperor Nero.
The Luigi Rovati Foundation in Milan acquired the Amphora of Memnon, sold by Plektron Fine Arts AG, while the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts acquired the Stele of Medea offered by David Aaron. The same museum also purchased *Oceanus and Tethys*, a depiction of the god of the sea and his consort, from Elfriede Langeloh.
Other sculptural works include *Snake Pitcher* by Arthur Craco, sold by the Lancz Gallery to the Musée d’Orsay. A pair of bronze vases decorated with bats, created by Hippolyte Ferrat after a model by Jean-Jacques Feuchère, was purchased by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford through the Galerie Nicolas Bourriaud.
Tapestries, Majolica, and Design
The decorative arts also played a significant role in institutional acquisitions. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acquired a large, vibrantly colored 18th-century tapestry, presented by De Wit Fine Tapestries, and a Portuguese majolica plate in the chinoiserie style from São Roque, in Lisbon. De Wit Fine Tapestries also sold *Queen Esther Issues the Royal Decree*, a Southern Netherlandish tapestry dating from the first quarter of the 16th century, to the National Trust for Oxburgh Estate in the United Kingdom.
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco acquired from Galerie Flore a pair of “Terre de Perse” majolica bowls, glazed in blue and embellished with gilded bronze mounts in the Louis XVI arabesque style.
Among the design objects, a wall lamp by Gerrit Rietveld stands out; it was sold by Galerie Van den Bruinhorst—making its debut at the fair—to the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. The Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore purchased the Syntax tea box from the Ippodo Gallery, while the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in France acquired a chair by Tom Dixon, presented by Ketabi Bourdet, and the Table à Ouvrage, Coquille by François Linke, offered by Adrian Alan Ltd.
The journey through contemporary art and design concludes with *Robe simultanée* by Sonia Delaunay-Terk, sold by Galerie Zlotowski to the Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands.
Finally, among the acquisitions is a wallpaper panel created by Thomas Couture and Jules Desfossé, sold by Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, along with two sculptures by Giacomo Balla offered by Bottegantica and purchased by the KMSKA in Antwerp.
“Cultural exchange and the preservation of cultural heritage are at the heart of TEFAF’s mission. Every year, we have the honor of welcoming directors, curators, and patrons from leading museums around the world. Their acquisitions reflect the breadth and expertise of our exhibiting galleries and bring works of art into public collections, where they can be studied, preserved, and shared with future generations,” said Maarten ten Holder, CEO of TEFAF. “Our ties to the museum world extend beyond collecting. Museum experts help ensure the highest standards of authentication at our fairs, while initiatives such as the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund and the TEFAF Curator Course support the institutions and professionals who preserve, interpret, and deepen our understanding of art and cultural heritage.”
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| From Rubens to Lavinia Fontana, TEFAF 2026 Brings New Masterpieces to Museums Around the World: All the Most Important Acquisitions |
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