During the first days of the virtual fair, which ran from September 9-13, the Groeningemuseum in Bruges completed the acquisition of this portrait of an unknown man in armour attributed to the Flemish painter Gillis Claeissens from the Caretto & Occhinegro Gallery.
Bought for an undisclosed sum for the museum’s collection of 16th century Bruges portraiture, the 12½ x 10in (32 x 25cm) oil on panel depicts the sitter in Landshut-made armour from Bavaria, a look popularised by Philip II of Spain.
Other museum purchases included a c.1550 Venetian School picture on an allegory from The Table of Cebes, which was sold by Nicolaas Teeuwisse OHG to Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam, and a possible self-portrait of Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot (1874- 1845) and his wife on their wedding trip, c.1821-25, bought by The Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts from Gallery 19C.
Elsewhere, UK exhibitor Runjeet Singh found a British institute buyer for one of his items and had “very strong interest” from a private collector in another. The gallery displayed an 18th century rocket of the type that had been used during that era by Tipu Sultan, a complete set of 17th century armour from Bijapur and an almost unique pair of 19th century illustrations of Indian arms and armour.
TEFAF organisers hope this will be the last online-only edition and have announced its physical fairs will return in 2022 with the 35th anniversary edition of TEFAF Maastricht from March 12-20.
