State of a Fair.

Byline: Kevin West Maastricht, The Netherlands - Let the linguists decide why man first learned language. The reason he bothered to learn a second (or third) language is obvious: to make the sale.

At last Thursday's opening of the European Fine Arts Fair in Maastricht - generally regarded as the world's top art and antiques clearinghouse - visitors could hear Americans speaking French, French speaking German, Germans speaking Italian, Italians speaking English - and the Dutch speaking seemingly anything that came their way, all in the name of selling the best antiques and art currently on the market.

"Each fair has its own flavor," said contemporary arts dealer Anthony Meyer, one of an increasing number of modern and contemporary dealers expanding …