Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
Items from France’s national furniture collection to be auctioned to raise funds for health service
04 May 2020France’s Mobilier National, the body that looks after the national furniture collection, is auctioning 100 pieces from its holdings in order to support the country’s health service.
Affordable art: Three works sold for under £1500 including a Frank O Salisbury portrait
04 May 2020Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a Frank O Salisbury portrait.
Auction house reports boost for less familiar names as bidders scan catalogues in detail
04 May 2020One of the side-effects for the art market of being in a lockdown is that people have more time to discover works that they might have otherwise missed or overlooked.
Bellany results remain buoyant
04 May 2020Works by the prolific John Bellany (1942-2013) appear regularly at auction, with small drawings often available for hundreds of pounds, but the larger and vigorously coloured figurative oils generally make many thousands.
Auction record for Hugh Cronyn as Chiswick’s sale goes local
29 April 2020A group of works by the versatile Canadian-British painter Hugh Cronyn (1905-1996) came from the artist’s estate to Chiswick Auctions’ latest art sale.
Sotheby’s online-only sale of works from Rafael Valls yields benefits to both auctioneer and dealer
27 April 2020The London auction house holds its first online-only sale dedicated to a single dealer
The Dutch kids are all right: child portraits continue to bring demand
27 April 2020Unlike in other parts of Europe where portraits of children were a rare phenomenon, the Dutch Republic experienced a rapid increase in this genre of painting between 1500-1700.
British Museum unveils antiquities database but dealers raise concerns
20 April 2020A project led by the British Museum (BM) to combat the trade in looted antiquities from Egypt and Sudan has launched an online database where objects with ‘provenance issues’ can be brought to the attention of museum specialists and academics.
Here’s the real Samuel Palmer…
20 April 2020Samuel Palmer (1805-81) prints are not unusual on the market but one of two that were offered as a single lot at Chorley’s (22.5% buyer’s premium) in Cheltenham carried an interesting inscription by the artist’s son, AH Palmer.
Affordable art: Three works sold for under £800 including a Brangwyn and Urushibara woodcut
20 April 2020Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a Brangwyn and Urushibara woodcut
Bloomsbury bohemian rhapsody as Vanessa Bell paintings emerge in Dorchester
20 April 2020The bohemian lives of the Bloomsbury Group of artists have long been a source of fascination for the British public.
The sun never sets on Sir Kyffin
13 April 2020Giant of the Welsh art market takes the limelight with an intriguing yellow-infused work
Holman Hunt depicted by studio assistant
13 April 2020The sale of portrait miniatures held online by Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) included a watercolour on ivory of the artist William Holman Hunt (1827-1910).
Rembrandt etching not frowned on in saleroom
13 April 2020Self-portraits are among the earliest prints that Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69) made, accounting for a large portion of his etching output when he was in his 20s and living in Leiden.
Affordable art: Three works sold for under £2000 including a Richard Frizzell oil on canvas
13 April 2020Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a Frizzell oil on canvas
Auction record set for British ‘society’ portraitist Ambrose McEvoy at Dreweatts
06 April 2020Artist battles back to regain favour with auctioneers, private buyers and dealers
Second tranche of pictures from dealer Duncan Campbell's collection sold in Newbury
06 April 2020A group of pictures from the collection of the late art dealer Duncan Campbell, who died in 2011, were among the lots drawing interest at Dreweatts.
Sotheby’s: online ‘surge’ as clients bid from home
23 March 2020In an early test of the art market after the announcement of social distancing guidance, Sotheby’s latest ‘Made in Britain’ auction recorded a dramatic increase in online bidding.
Institute of Art and Law to update guidance on restitution cases
19 March 2020Arts Council England has appointed the Institute of Art and Law to help form new guidance for institutions around the thorny issues of restitution and repatriation of cultural objects.
Sotheby’s reports ‘surge’ in online buying as clients forced to bid from home
18 March 2020In one of the first tests of the art market since the UK government announced tougher ‘social distancing’ guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak, Sotheby’s latest ‘Made in Britain’ auction recorded a dramatic increase in online bidding.