11 July 2017, Nanne Dekking has been appointed the new Chairman of The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF)
‘I have followed TEFAF’s development with keen interest for many years. The organisation’s recent dramatic expansion and re-branding has been extremely ambitious and sets the stage for significant growth in its international reputation. It is an honour to be chosen to succeed Willem van Roijen in this role as Chairman, and the organisation is greatly indebted to him for his work. Together with TEFAF’s CEO, Patrick van Maris, Willem has initiated great change in the organisation and I look forward to furthering the ambitions of TEFAF as a powerful art community’, said Nanne Dekking.
Patrick van Maris, CEO of TEFAF since May 2015, said ‘I am grateful to Willem van Roijen for his continued support of TEFAF. With the appointment of Nanne Dekking I am pleased TEFAF has found a highly capable successor to Willem. Nanne and I share the same values and I look forward to working closely with him to fulfil TEFAF’s future ambitions.’
Mr Dekking is the co-founder and CEO of Artory LLC, New York and Artory GmbH, Berlin. The foremost goal of Artory is to restore confidence in the market place, dealerships and auction houses, where a lack of transparency has created uncertainty and dampened confidence, creating a barrier to entry for prospective buyers or for existing buyers to re-engage. In his former position at Sotheby’s New York, he was Vice Chairman and the Worldwide Head of Private Sales. His close relationships with collectors and museums in North America, Asia and Europe were integral to the continued growth of private sales at Sotheby’s. Prior to joining Sotheby’s, he was Vice President of Wildenstein & Co and he has advised individuals, museums and foundations on the formation and development of their collections. From 1996-2001 Mr Dekking was the founder and principal of Nanne Dekking Fine Arts, an art consultancy firm and gallery in New York. After graduation from the University of Amsterdam he held numerous distinguished positions in The Netherlands, including Deputy Administrative Director of the Dutch National Ballet. He started his career as Assistant Curator of the Historical Collections of HM The Queen of The Netherlands.
Dekking lives in Brooklyn with his husband, journalist Frank Ligtvoet, and their two children.
TEFAF is a not-for-profit foundation acting as an expert guide for both private and institutional collectors in a global art marketplace, and inspiring lovers and buyers of art everywhere. TEFAF now runs three Fairs internationally: TEFAF Maastricht, TEFAF New York Fall and TEFAF New York Spring.
A joint venture between TEFAF and Artvest Partners, TEFAF New York was founded in early 2016 to host two annual art fairs in New York at the Park Avenue Armory, TEFAF New York Fall and TEFAF New York Spring. Each Fair feature over 90 leading exhibitors from the around the globe. Tom Postma Design, celebrated for its innovative work with leading museums, galleries, and art fairs, has developed designs for the Fairs that interplay with the spectacular spaces while giving them a lighter, contemporary look and feel. Exhibitor stands will flow throughout the Armory’s landmark building encompassing the Wade Thompson Drill Hall and extending to both the first and second floors of the Armory’s period rooms, creating a Fair of unprecedented depth and impact in New York City.