The Netherlands-based organisation Tefaf has brought the management of its bi-annual New York fairs under its control, following the end of a two-year agreement with the US-based firm Artvest, owned by Michael Plummer and Jeff Rabin.
According to a statement released today, 1 July, the move is “consistent with Tefaf’s overall strategy to build a global brand that is run by one organisation”.
The ownership structure of the US fairs will remain the same and, alongside being shareholders, Plummer and Rabin will continue to the sit on the Tefaf New York board. But, they will no longer be involved in the practical organisation of the two fairs or be principal spokesmen.
The New York fairs’ management will now fall to Sofie Scheerlinck, who takes over from Artvest as the managing director of Tefaf New York. Scheerlinck, who has an IT and digital background, joined the organisation in March this year as director of global integration, based in New York and reporting to Tefaf’s chief executive, Patrick van Maris, who is based between the US and Europe.
The Netherlands-based non-profit organisation, which started the original Tefaf Maastricht fair in 1988, expanded to the US in 2016, launching Tefaf New York Fall in October 2016 and Tefaf New York Spring in May 2017.
This move was enabled by Artvest, which already owned the desired tenures in the Park Avenue Armory in October (formerly Haughton Fairs’ The International Fine Art & Antique Dealers Show) and May (formerly Spring Masters New York).
Nanne Dekking, chairman of Tefaf’s board of trustees, says the organisation is “enormously grateful to Michael Plummer and Jeff Rabin for enabling it to establish the two fairs in New York and for their hard work and guidance in bringing the TEFAF brand to North America”.