In 2022 I started working at the leading art fair ‘TEFAF’ for ‘Bijl- van Urk master paintings’, an art dealer specialized in ‘Old Masters’, mostly seventeenth century. While being on commission for ‘Bijl- van Urk’, I got surprised by the surrealistic world this ‘art world’ was to me, the enormous amounts of money art dealers had attached to their art pieces, but most of all the types of people who attended events like this. Joining fairs such as ‘TEFAF’ comes with a lifestyle I guess: private jets, ‘Bentleys’ and jewelry aren’t an exception here. Intrigued by what I saw there, I decided to start a series about this unrealistic world of wealth, next to my commissioned work.
Also commissioned for this client, I worked at ‘PAN’- a similar art fair - the same year and until today I attend both events yearly, while documenting them. What I quickly noticed is that - besides the average age of the attendee’s being somewhere between 60 and 80 years old - many of them come from a long bloodline of wealth. For that reason, I’ve decided to name my ongoing series: ‘Old Money’. There is not any judgement to that name, neither to the guests of those events, just every time I walk around there I get intrigued by this lifestyle.
Personal Project
