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The Old Masters’ New Wave

A rising generation of women is pushing to break into the old boys’ network at Maastricht, while trying to lower the barriers to entry along the way. Of course, it still helps to have inherited the family business.

Miriam Di Penta
“Younger modern and contemporary art collectors have a growing interest in Old Masters, as if it completes their collections and their education in the arts,” says Miriam Di Penta. “This is very encouraging." Photo: Courtesy of Miriam Di Penta Fine Arts
Julie Brener Davich
August 31, 2025

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Three years ago, Chloe Stead and Vanessa Wildenstein decided to organize a ladies’ dinner at the European Fine Art Foundation fair in Maastricht, the prestigious annual showcase of antique works of art. The Old Master category, of course, is a particularly clubby market that can be hard for newcomers to break into. Of the 54 exhibitors in the paintings section of the fair this year, at least half are second-, third-, even sixth-generation dealers. Two-thirds of their galleries were founded before 2000, and 50 of them—over 90 percent—are male-only proprietorships.