TEFAF brings an air of prestige to three fairs it operates—one in the Dutch city of Maastricht, two in New York—and so it has accrued a special following with established collectors and high-ranking curators. The ritzy European vibe of TEFAF New York is in some ways what differentiates this fair from the others opening this week.

But Will Korner, TEFAF’s Netherlands-based head of operations, said he also wanted to change that reputation. “In Maastricht, we felt like there were so many people in lower-value categories that have had their best years,“ he explained. “We’re not fixating on only the mega-dealing, only blue-chip bastions of art history. We see other parts of the market that have nothing to do with that top level.”

Accordingly, some of the fair’s 91 exhibitors are this week bringing a more youthful flavor to the fair. Sprüth Magers, for example, is betting on Anne Imhof, a German artist whose performances—including one three hours long recently staged at the Park Avenue Armory, the very venue where TEFAF is now taking place—have often been compared to Balenciaga ad campaigns. Imhof has recently turned toward sculpture, and the gallery was able to place a €250,000 relief by her with a US collection that the gallery did not name. Sprüth Magers also sold drawings by her to US and European collectors at lower prices.

Some galleries ensured that TEFAF’s traditionally cosmopolitan crowd could still find what it wanted while also trying to lure in new buyers. Lisson Gallery, for example, sold a Sean Scully painting, Wall Tappan Deep Red (2025), for $500,000. Scully is well-known within the blue-chip market, but others whose works were at the booth are not. Dalton Paula, a Brazilian painter who last year figured in the Venice Biennale, made his debut with Lisson at this booth.

Gagosian, meanwhile, brought works by the youngest artist in its stable: the painter Anna Weyant. Some of her small paintings sold at the fair, but the gallery didn’t report prices for them.

Two big New York art fairs—NADA New York and Independent, at Chelsea’s Starrett-Lehigh and Tribeca’s Spring Studios, respectively—kicked off this week, joining an already-busy week that also includes Frieze and TEFAF. It’s been a few years since the spring had a fair week this crowded, but if the recent downturn and the compressed schedule had dealers and collectors worried, it wasn’t apparent at either fair.

Heather Hubbs, executive director of the New Art Dealers Alliance, was in high spirits on Thursday, despite an early morning fire alarm at the fair. “The crowd yesterday was really strong, the quality of the people who came was high, and the feedback on the new venue has been fantastic,” Hubbs told ARTnews. “People kept saying they came here, went to Frieze, and then came back.”

Independent also had a steady flow of visitors on Thursday, with a 20 percent increase in its attendance versus opening day last year. Founder Elizabeth Dee said the fairs converging this week, plus the incoming May auctions held next week, lifted the mood across the board. “The buying was strong yesterday by both collectors and institutions alike,” Dee said in an email. “This was great to see here in New York, which remains the leader by a mile as the global art capital: a fortunate backdrop for the 26 Independent Debuts and majority of presentations commissioned especially for our show.”

The hope is that all that energy translates into sales. The verdict from Frieze Wednesday was a big thumbs up, which recent market analysis would suggest bodes well for the other fairs. Art Basel and UBS’s latest Global Art Market Report, published last month, found that sales have slowed for blue-chip artworks, but they’ve accelerated for works priced below $50,000, a segment that aligns more closely with pricing at NADA and Independent.

While collectors may be self-reporting that they are buying at that price point, dealers told ARTnews that galleries aren’t necessarily seeing the same gangbuster sales they saw during the early part of the pandemic. “People keep saying that, but I’m like, ‘OK, hello, where?’ I haven’t really seen that, to be honest, and I know a lot of my colleagues haven’t seen that either,” Lower East Side gallerist Hannah Traore, an Independent exhibitor, said when asked about the report’s findings. “Sales overall have been fine. It hasn’t been horrible, but it wasn’t what it was.”