TEFAF Maastricht 2013 opens to the public on Friday 15th March and continues until Sunday 24th March. The offering of fine and decorative arts is as impressive as ever. The Fair is full of the rare, the beautiful, the important and the recently discovered. At the beginning of the Fair a new TEFAF Art Market report will be published. tefaf.com

Meeting of Masterpieces
One of the highlights presented by Johnny van Haeften (stand 304), is a magnificent, oil-on-canvas representation of the meeting of Nausicaa and Odysseus by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678). The study for this composition - a cartoon for a tapestry, which was never executed - can be found on the stand of Jean-Luc Baroni (stand 382). The two works have been united at the Fair for the first time in many centuries.

Highlights of modern art
TEFAF has a reputation for exhibiting major works by leading 20th-century artists, such as a charming portrait 'Le Chasseur' by Chaim Soutine (1893-1943) from 1928 with Landau Fine Art (stand 414). Applicat-Prazan (stand 442) is exhibiting a seminal work by Jean Dubuffet, a large-scale collage on canvas entitled 'Site Urbain' of 1962, one of the earliest works from his Hourloupe period. Van de Weghe Fine Art (stand 522) is showing 'The Den', a mixed media collage on board by Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), from 1990-1996.

Treasure house
The Antiques section offers an extraordinary overview of decorative arts. Galerie Perrin (stand 104) is showing an elegant bureau plat made by Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) that was formerly in the collection of Prince Murat, a title created for the brother-in-law of Emperor Napoleon I. A highlight of Gisèle Croës (stand 133) is a large archaic bronze vessel, called a Lei, with openwork crown, made in the Spring/Autumn period (770/4818 BC).

Design from around the world
Galerie DOWNTOWN François Laffanour (stand 605) will show a unique bookcase from 1966, and an irregular hexagonal table from 1949 by Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999). The table stood in Perriand's flat in Rio de Janeiro. Sebastian + Barquet (stand 610) is devoting their stand to an exhibition of works by the renowned American designer George Nakashima (1905-1990).

TEFAF launches Art Market Report 2013
The seemingly unstoppable growth of the Chinese art and antiques market came to a halt as it shrank by almost a quarter during 2012. The United States hence resumed its traditional place as the world’s biggest market. This is revealed by the ‘TEFAF Art Market Report 2013 - The Global Art Market with a focus on China and Brazil'. Amid slowing growth and continuing uncertainty in the global economy, the worldwide market in art and antiques contracted by 7% from €46.4 to €43 billion in 2012. Many art buyers are minimising risk by opting for the best-known artists at the top end of the market with Post-War and Contemporary Art performing strongly. The report was commissioned by TEFAF and compiled by Dr Clare McAndrew. You can order your copy at €20 each excluding postage through the TEFAF website.