VINCENT MENTZEL
TEFAF has appointed Wim Pijbes as its global chairman of vetting—a new position that, according to a release put out by the fair on Monday, was “established in line with the organizations developing vetting protocols.” Henk van Os previously oversaw vetting policies for TEFAF’s fair in Maastricht, the Netherlands, though Pijbes will now do this, plus preside over protocols for judging exhibitors and their offerings for TEFAF’s two New York editions.
The new position is part of a larger shift at TEFAF, which announced in 2018 that it was changing its vetting policies such that the committees facilitating them “consist of experts with as little commercial interest in the art market as possible,” according to a prior release. Whereas in the past dealers and auction house experts could play a role in vetting exhibitors and their wares, now only academics, curators, conservators, and scientists are allowed to participate.
Pijbes’s decorated career includes a stint as the director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which he led from 2008 to 2016. (He is now emeritus general director of the institution.) During his tenure, he oversaw a critically acclaimed revamp of the museum that cost €375 million. In 2016 he became director of collector Joop van Caldenborgh’s newly minted Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, the Netherlands, and left that position just months after taking it on. Then, in 2017, he joined Stichting Droom en Daad, a Rotterdam-based initiative that oversees arts ventures.
In a statement, Pijbes said, “TEFAF is dedicated to delivering a transparent vetting process, that is diligent and thorough, and which engenders trust in collectors. We want to create an environment at TEFAF based on trust, transparency and truth, in which collectors are confident that the works of art they buy at TEFAF Fairs’ are authentic.”