Sign in  |  Register

The New Criterion

The New Criterion is probably more consistently worth reading than any other magazine in English.
- The Times Literary Supplement

Art

April 2005

The Maastricht fair

by Marco Grassi

On the world’s preeminent art fair.

A long, thin sliver of Holland extends southwards, squeezed between Belgium and Germany. At its center, minutes from Aachen, is the town of Maastricht, population of 125,000. Declaring itself with some justification the oldest urban enclave in the Netherlands, it was, to the Romans, Mosae Trajectum (“Maas Crossing”). Strategically straddling the river Maas, the town has experienced an astonishing total of nineteen sieges—by Austria, Spain, and France—all in the course of the religious and territorial disputes that marked the transformation of the medieval Duchy of Brabant into the modern United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Despite this turbulent history, the industrious townfolk of Maastricht managed to build two splendid Romanesque basilicas and to maintain a thriving textile and ceramics industry. Art, however, seems always to have remained a marginal pursuit, certainly in comparison to the privileged ...

This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchase

Subscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions)

Subscribe to TNC (Online only)

Purchase article credit and clip this article

If you already have an account login first

Marco Grassi is a private paintings conservator and dealer in New York.


more from this author

This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 23 April 2005, on page 48

Copyright © 2012 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com

http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/The-Maastricht-fair-1307
rate this article for your user profile

E-mail to friend


The New Criterion

By the author

Faces of the Renaissance

by Marco Grassi

On Renaissance portraiture.

The pious provincial

by Marco Grassi

On the sublime artistry of Lorenzo Lotto.

The classic romantic

by Marco Grassi

On “George Inness in Italy” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

You might also enjoy

Two young artists

by Karen Wilkin

On “Rembrandt and Degas: Two Young Artists” at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA.

Exhibition note

by Leann Davis Alspaugh

On "New Formations: Czech Avant-Garde Art & Modern Glass from the Roy and Mary Cullen Collection” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Exhibition note

by Christie Davies

On “Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn, Ceramic Work 5000 B.C.–A.D. 2010” at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London & “The Flamboyant Mr. Chinnery: An English Artist in India and China” at Asia House, London.

Most popular

view more >

The New Criterion is now optimized for Mobile Devices

Webcasts

Anthony Daniels on the Euro Crisis
The New Criterion author Anthony Daniels delivers remarks in New York City about the "European experiment." With an introduction by editor Roger Kimball. Recorded on November 30, 2011.


Andrew C. McCarthy: The Muslim Threat
The New Criterion contributor Andrew C. McCarthy delivers remarks in Effingham, Illinois, about the threat of Islamism to the United States. A Friend of The New Criterion, Dwight Erskine, introduces McCarthy to the Effingham audience. Recorded on October 1, 2011.


Roger Kimball: The Grim Future of Statism
The New Criterion editor Roger Kimball delivers remarks in Effingham, Illinois, about the future of statism and The New Criterion's 30th anniversary. A Friend of The New Criterion, Dwight Erskine, introduces Roger Kimball to the Effingham audience. Recorded on October 1, 2011.