Art Rotterdam

Attendees, exhibitors & solutions

Who this event is for

Industry trends

Key trends shaping this market and its wider industry.

Hotel tiers

A range of accommodation options near the venue and across key areas.

Local transport

Get around the city with these convenient transport options.

Frequently asked

Glossary

1

Art fair

A time-limited commercial exhibition where galleries rent booths to show and sell work to collectors, curators and the public. Art Rotterdam is built around this model, with invited galleries presenting curated booth displays rather than a single-artist museum hang.

2

Primary market

First-time sales of a work directly from the artist's representing gallery. Most booths at a contemporary art fair operate in the primary market, which is why prices, availability and waiting lists are usually discussed with the gallery rather than printed publicly.

3

Secondary market

Resale of works already owned by a collector or institution, often through auction houses or specialist dealers. Some fair exhibitors handle secondary material, but the conversation shifts to provenance, condition and prior exhibition history.

4

Booth presentation

The curated hang a gallery installs within its rented stand: wall layout, lighting, label text and the selection of works chosen to read as one argument. Strong booth presentations are what distinguish a serious fair from a room of unrelated pictures.

5

Solo presentation

A booth devoted to a single artist, often used by galleries to place a focused body of new work with curators and collectors. These are usually the fastest way for a visitor to understand a gallery's programme in one pass.

6

Curated section

A defined area of the fair selected by a curator or committee rather than allocated purely by application, often mixing emerging galleries, project spaces and invited artists. Check the organiser's floor plan to see which sections sit in which hall.

7

Vernissage and preview

The invitation-only opening and early viewing slots before a fair opens to the general public. Access is typically through gallery invitations, a collector programme or a press accreditation, and works are often reserved or sold during these hours.

8

Provenance

The documented ownership and exhibition history of a work. Buyers ask for it to confirm authenticity and to understand value, and galleries keep it in the invoice and certificate package that accompanies a sale.

9

Condition report

A written and photographic description of a work's physical state at a given date, used before shipping and on delivery. Collectors should request one whenever a work is crated, shipped or insured.

10

Edition

A fixed number of identical or near-identical works, typically prints, photographs, sculptures or video, produced from one matrix and numbered. Edition size, artist proofs and the presence of a signed certificate directly affect price and resale.

11

Installation view

A photograph of the work as displayed in the booth or gallery, used in catalogues and press material. It shows scale and context but is not a substitute for a condition report.

12

Courtesy of the gallery

The standard credit line in fair catalogues and press releases identifying the exhibitor lending or selling the work, for example a caption ending in the gallery's name and city.

13

VAT and export paperwork

Dutch VAT generally applies to sales made in the Netherlands, while buyers exporting outside the EU may be able to reclaim it under conditions. Ask the gallery for the invoice, export documents and a fine-art shipper before paying.

14

Fine-art logistics

Specialist transport, crating and insurance for artworks. For purchases made at the fair, galleries usually quote a door-to-door service with climate-controlled vans and marine or specialist art insurance rather than standard courier rates.