Annual European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) by Maria Shollenbarger

By playing host to one of the art world’s most anticipated annual events, attended by top auctioneers, gallery owners, and dealers from as far away as Shanghai, Buenos Aires, and San Francisco. Every spring, the Annual European Fine Art Fair—or TEFAF—kicks off in Maastricht. And while Maastricht may be small, it’s anything but provincial.

Two luxury hotels in Maastricht reflect its range of style—and its uniform sophistication. The Hotel Derlon, which sits on Maastricht’s loveliest square, the Onze Lieve Vrouweplein, is a slick, minimalist temple to contemporary design: sparsely but stylishly furnished, with lots of bold color, clever lighting, luxurious glass-and-tile baths, and enormous down-swathed beds. Just a few miles’ distant—but a world away, in aesthetic terms—is the baronial Chateau St. Gerlach, a 12th-century estate-turned-luxury retreat whose soaring ceilings, opulent decor, and magnificent grounds make it a favourite for TEFAF’s major players.

And come March, they’ll be jetting in in droves. The purported demise of the art market in the wake the current financial climate is something you’ll see less evidence of here than at other fairs, such as Art Basel. TEFAF has a solid base of dealers in Old Masters and 18th- and 19th-century art, antiques, and jewelry, whose value withstands fluctuations far better than the terrifically inflated contemporary art market has; the world’s big spenders (and make no mistake about it, there are still some left) are on to this fact. There’s a much-anticipated new venue showcasing 20th-century design and applied arts, featuring several dealers and gallerists. As part of the launch of this initiative, visitors will have a rare chance to view furniture and objects from the collection of the Museum Jachthuis St Hubertus (bequeathed to the Dutch state by the fantastically wealthy Kröller-Müller family, who also founded Holland’s venerated Kröller-Müller Museum). Visitors should also make sure to peruse the TEFAF Showcase, a special venue launched last year which gives seven (very fortunate) emerging young dealers a one-time opportunity to exhibit as part of the fair.

There’s as much to inspire delight and whet culture (and spending) appetites beyond the fair’s boundaries as there is within them. Founded by the Romans in 50 BC, Maastricht is Holland’s oldest city; and, with large sections of it relatively untouched by development (and felicitously unscathed by the WWII bombing campaigns that devastated much of the country), it’s one of its prettiest as well. A leisurely walk up and down the Stokstraat, the city’s main shopping destination, and the streets surrounding it turns up a surfeit of stylish purveyors of men’s and women’s fashion, jewelry, and accessories.

And about those Michelin stars: dinner at Beluga, which boasts two of them, is a must. Don’t let the contemporary building fool you; it’s a stalwart on the Maastricht dining scene and always reliable for creative interpretations of classics (the menu is divided into ‘taste’ and ‘color’ sections). Also try Toine Hermsen (one star) for classic French cuisine in a buzzy, upscale-bistro setting, and Tout à Fait (also one star), for rib-sticking dishes like rotisserie duck and gnocchi in a veal sauce, enjoyed in a sleek bi-level space punctuated by color-field canvases.