Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
Jane Austen letter heads home to museum
02 September 2019Jane Austen’s House Museum in Hampshire has successfully raised the £35,000 required to buy a fragment of a letter written by the novelist in 1814. The rare manuscript was being sold on behalf of its private owner by London dealer Maggs.
Top stories this week – including news of the contents from 'Shropshire’s Baroque masterpiece' consigned to auction
31 August 2019The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of the principal contents of Mawley Hall, an 18th-century country mansion described by Country Life as 'Shropshire’s Baroque masterpiece', coming up for auction in Cambridge.
Sotheby’s shareholders to vote on Patrick Dhahi deal
28 August 2019Sotheby’s shareholders will gather in New York next week to vote on the proposed sale of the company to Patrick Drahi. The board is recommending approval but several investors have raised concerns over the deal.
“A little landscape dad bought on his travels” – works from the Strachan art collection offered at Melbourne auction
21 August 2019Among the pictures from a notable Australian art collection that have emerged at Melbourne saleroom Leonard Joel is a small landscape with turf stacks by Irish artist Paul Henry (1877-1958).
Letter by Jane Austen goes on view at museum after being acquired from Maggs
20 August 2019Jane Austen's House Museum in Hampshire successfully raised the £35,000 required to buy a fragment of a letter written by the great novelist in 1814. The rare manuscript was being sold on behalf of its private owner by London dealer Maggs.
Dining scene is Tayler made to succeed
19 August 2019One of the highest prices for Albert Chevallier Tayler (1862-1925) at a UK auction in the last 10 years was achieved at Roseberys’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest picture sale when a late Victorian ‘period’ scene attracted multiple bidders.
Bussy bird flies to five figures
19 August 2019Mid-20th century animal study contrasts with traditional ornithological work in same auction.
Affordable art: Three works sold for £700 or under including Harold Dearden's slice of social history
19 August 2019Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales at £700 or under, including social history scenes.
Last gasp of Romantic style before Realist
19 August 2019Drawing keen interest at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) in Derbyshire last month was a work by Belgian painter Francois Joseph Navez (1787-1869), an artist who rarely appears in the UK salerooms.
Top stories this week – including news of a major Chinese sleeper selling at a Suffolk auction
16 August 2019The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of a Chinese vase estimated at just £100-150 bringing dramatic bidding at the Felixstowe saleroom of Diamond Mills.
National Gallery acquires Richard Parkes Bonington painting in £600,000 tax deal
15 August 2019A view of the River Seine by Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-28) has entered the collection of The National Gallery in London under the acceptance in lieu scheme.
Nazi-looted French vases returned jointly by FBI and Christie’s
12 August 2019The FBI’s art crime team and auction house Christie’s have returned a pair of Louis XVI bronze vases that were stolen by the Nazis to the heirs of the original Jewish owners.
Affordable art: Three works sold for £750 or under including Edgar Wood oil painting
12 August 2019Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales at £750 or under, including an oil by designer known more for Arts & Crafts jewellery and furniture.
Charity check unearths Wyld rarity
12 August 2019One notable consequence of the growing prevalence of charity shops on the high street is that auctioneers are receiving more and more items that these organisations want to check in case they are valuable.
The art of pitching it just right
12 August 2019Somerset auction shows how bidders are very sensitive to how works are estimated.
Prolific painter pair appears in Dorset saleroom
12 August 2019Landscape painter Sidney Richard Percy (1821-86) is described in Christopher Wood’s Dictionary of Victorian Painters as “a prolific and variable painter, and his prices vary accordingly”.
Top stories this week – including news of a rare watercolour of Venice discovered in a charity shop
10 August 2019The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of a rare watercolour of Venice brought into a charity shop selling for £2400 at a Somerset auction.
Gold hits all-time high in UK
05 August 2019Against the backdrop of a weakening pound, the price of gold in the UK has hit an all-time high.
Portrait of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge raises £51,000 at Gloucestershire auction
05 August 2019It was a case of sitter rather than artist determining the value of an otherwise unassuming portrait that came up at Wotton Auction Rooms’ latest sale.
Son of a slave paints saintly image
05 August 2019While the vast majority of works at Old Master sales are by European artists, an unusual offering at Bonhams’ sale on July 3 was a Latin American work by a painter with Afro-Caribbean ancestry.