Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
Going, going, private… Sotheby’s could compete on level terms with Christie’s – once it quits stock exchange
24 June 2019Art market insiders are expecting a dramatic change in the dynamic at the top end of the sector if a remarkable $3.7bn bid to buy Sotheby’s completes this year.
Top stories this week – including news of Only Fools and Horses millionaire cheque selling at auction
21 June 2019The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of the £6.2m cheque that finally made the Trotter brothers millionaires selling at an auction in Bristol.
Van Gogh’s ‘suicide’ gun sells for €130,000 at auction in Paris
19 June 2019The gun believed to be the weapon used by Vincent van Gogh to shoot himself in the summer of 1890 was knocked down at an €130,000 (£116,070) at auction in Paris.
Sotheby's sold to media entrepreneur and art collector Patrick Drahi in $3.7bn deal
17 June 2019Sotheby’s has been sold to BidFair USA, a company owned by media and telecom entrepreneur and art collector Patrick Drahi.
Beethoven’s hair bid to £28,000 at Sotheby’s
17 June 2019A lock of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair that was “evidently given” by the great composer to the pianist Anton Halm in 1826 was knocked down at £28,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in London last week.
Portrait of Augustus John’s painterly daughter brings bidding in Cambridge
17 June 2019A portrait by Augustus John (1878-1961) of his daughter Gwyneth Johnstone attracted keen attention at auction in Cambridge last week.
Top stories this week – including news of a metal detectorist’s £460,000 discovery
15 June 2019The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of a rare Roman gold coin found by a metal detectorist in a field in Kent selling at a London auction for £460,000.
A Brilliant response to studio sale
10 June 2019A maquette for the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in London’s Tavistock Square – valued at £20,000 on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow – was the top lot in a sale of works from the Polish-born artist Fredda Brilliant (1903-99).
Pick of the week: Restituted Swiss self-portrait lights up saleroom
10 June 2019Berlin auction house Grisebach posted an auction record for the Swiss artist Karl Stauffer-Bern (1857-91) on May 29 when it sold a self-portrait which had been recently restituted to the family of its original Jewish owners.
Selective Russian auction series maintains capacity to wow
10 June 2019The latest week of Russian art auctions in London generated £35.8m including premium, the highest total for a June series in this category since 2014.
Top stories this week – including news of a 'lost' Dr Who episode emerging at auction
08 June 2019The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of colour photos of the 'lost' Dr Who 'Power of the Daleks' episode emerging at south London auction house Roseberys.
Mahatma Gandhi sculpture more than doubles Antiques Roadshow valuation at Salisbury auction
05 June 2019A maquette for the famous statue of Mahatma Gandhi in London’s Tavistock Square that was valued at £20,000 six years ago on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow by dealer Philip Mould drew a lengthy bidding battle at auction today.
Top stories this week – including news of ‘the most valuable English Golden Age clock ever to appear at auction’
01 June 2019The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of a Tompion table clock made for Mary II being offered at Bonhams this summer.
‘Six-sixes’ auction saga continues as new footage of Gary Sobers interview is broadcast
31 May 2019Journalist and author Grahame Lloyd has said he will continue his campaign to get Christie’s to acknowledge that the ‘wrong’ six-sixes cricket ball was sold at auction after footage emerged of the batsman Sir Garfield Sobers saying that only one ball was used in the famous over.
Speculation mounts over whether Louvre in Paris will label Salvator Mundi as a ‘workshop’ picture
30 May 2019The question regarding the authorship of Leonardo's ‘Salvator Mundi’, the world’s most expensive painting, has again been the subject of media attention this week after it was claimed that experts at the Louvre in Paris are reluctant to exhibit it as a fully autograph work.
Six lots to watch at MacDougall’s upcoming sale of Russian paintings and works of art
24 May 2019Russian art specialists MacDougall’s is marking 15 years since holding its first auction in London and has announced that its upcoming sale on June 5 will have a total estimate of £8.5m.
Five works raising the bar for LS Lowry since ‘A Cricket Match’ last appeared at auction 23 years ago
23 May 2019LS Lowry’s (1887-1976) painting of a back-street cricket match in Salford from 1938 is among the stand-out lots offered at Sotheby’s this summer. Ahead of the sale, it was unveiled today at The Lowry in Salford – a public gallery not far from the Old Trafford Cricket Ground – where it will remain on view until May 27.
Boris Becker memorabilia auction to go ahead after bankrupt tennis star withdraws injunction
21 May 2019The sale of sporting memorabilia seized from bankrupt tennis star Boris Becker will be going ahead this summer, the auctioneers handling the consignment have confirmed to ATG.
Old Master still-life brings £300,000 in Wiltshire sale
20 May 2019A major price for an Old Master in the English regions came in Wiltshire last week when a still-life by Flemish painter Frans Snyders (1579-1657) caught the eye of multiple bidders.
Giant haystacks and a steel rabbit post art market landmarks
20 May 2019Some eye-catching individual prices punctuated the latest Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art sales in New York, helping to lift the year-on-year total .