Florence International Biennial Antiques Fair

Fair’s mission is to promote Italian art and its market – September 21st to 29th in Florence

This year, the 31st edition Florence International Biennial Antiques Fair celebrates 60 years of activity in this exhibition dedicated to promoting the finest works of art in Italy. This is an important milestone that deserves to be celebrated in the city, starting with greater involvement by the economic and cultural realities, for confirming Florence once again as the centre of the international art market.

The BIAF will be held in the prestigious Baroque halls of Palazzo Corsini sull’Arno, with the best international antiquarian tradition represented, although with increasingly more focus on modern and contemporary art.

The works of art, paintings, sculptures, drawings, furniture, art objects and ancient books, all rigorously made by Italian Masters or foreign artists who have worked in Italy, will be subjected to a careful appraisal by the Vetting Committee, an authoritative group of internationally acclaimed experts for guaranteeing collectors and Institutions the highest possible security.

The event will host 77 galleries on the international scene, including 16 new entries, specialising in a wide range of artistic disciplines, whose exquisite selections are bound to charm the numerous private collectors, Museum Directors, Superintendents and curators coming from all over the world.

“My dream – says Secretary GeneralFabrizio Moretti – is that the BIAF brings to light all those works which are important documents in the history of art, thanks to the passionate commitment of all the gallerists, thus becoming the benchmark not only for the art market, but also for the wider public in Italy and beyond”.

Mayor Dario Nardella underlined the importance of the quality that the Biennial expresses: “It is only on quality that we can build a cultural offering that is not without the financial aspect; the city of Florence is the birthplace of philanthropy, where modern collecting began, where we might say the roots of the modern art market originate. We must defend the art market, that which is transparent, and legal, that which protects and safeguards culture, we must fight fiercely against the illegal market, because it is the illegal market that casts a shadow over the entire great world of the art trade, that is not deserving of the prejudices that still exist. They exist in the intellectual world, in the institutions and among legislators; we must distinguish the market that is good for us, for collecting, for the economy, that is popular and that brings Italy appreciation from all over the world, from those practices which exploit cultural heritage and have nothing to do with the universal right of every individual to benefit from a work of art.”

Famed Florentine jeweler, Fratelli Piccini, will also be present. This jewelry savoir-faire has, for over a century, contributed to the artistic patrimony found in Florence, their home city, also known as the ‘Cradle of the Italian Renaissance’. Fratelli Piccini is proud to celebrate Italian craftsmanship and the arts as partners of the XXXI Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato di Firenze. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Biennale, they have dedicated this one-of-a-kind ring with an emerald-cut diamond.

VIP Guests of the BIAF are invited to visit the Fratelli Piccini Atelier on Ponte Vecchio to discover the equisite craftsmanship and tradition of Italian goldsmiths, passed down through generations with passion and knowledge.

For more info visit: BIAF