Sculpture

A SCULPTURE has been returned to its former home more than 70 years after it was looted during the Blitz from a bombed London church.

THE anticipated highlight of Christie’s ‘Exceptional Sale’ on July 7, a rediscovered bronze by Adriaen de Vries (d.1626), was withdrawn from sale at the last minute.

THIS bronze Zinfandel by equestrian sculptor Adrian Jones (1845-1938) was stolen earlier this month from a private house in Surrey.

THIS marble portrait bust of Ann Borrett by the 18th century sculptor Henry Cheere was stolen from the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Shoreham, Kent at the end of January.

IT may have been an exceptional piece that generated an equally exceptional level of presale interest but, even still, few people present at Christie's Paris for the sale of Amedeo Modigliai's (1884-1920) Tête were expecting it to become the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction in France.

SETTING the highest price ever seen at auction for Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959), this lifesize sculpture of a mother and child, overshot its £60,000-80,000 estimate at Sotheby's latest sale of Modern British art in London before being knocked down to a private buyer at £120,000.

THE issue of the Manchester Art Gallery’s missing Eric Gill sculpture has been resolved, Cheshire auctioneer Adam Partridge has told ATG.

Five months after ATG revealed the reattribution of La Bella Principessa to Leonardo da Vinci, the man who spotted it is ready to unveil another major find.

If the price paid for Alberto Giacometti's (1901-1966) sculpture L'Homme qui Marche I is anything to go by, then the art market is now striding out of recession. Selling for £58m (plus premium) at Sotheby's evening sale on February 3, it became the most expensive object ever sold at auction.

SERIOUS levels of demand emerged for works at the very top end of the art market as this month’s flagship Impressionist and Modern art auction series raised a combined hammer total of £225.8m, massively up on the £108.8m for the equivalent series last year.

POLICE in North Yorkshire are seeking information following the theft in early January of a 17th century statue from St Andrew's Church, Newton Kyme, Tadcaster.

IS there still life in the Irish art market? The auction record for a piece of sculpture by an Irish artist was broken at Adam's 140-lot sale of Irish art on October 14.

This 113/4in (29cm) high slate sculpture titled Maquette for Large Sculpture: Four-Square (Four-Circle) was the first that Penzance auctioneer David Lay had offered for sale.

LONDON Sculpture Week, which was scheduled for June 12 to 19, has been suspended due to lack of sponsorship.

In a week that saw the London salerooms offering their traditional December round of Old Master pictures, continental furniture and works of art, one of the strongest prices proved to be the £1m (plus premium) paid for this lively and intriguing 3ft (90cm) high bacchic bronze at Sotheby's on December 2.

WHAT is billed as London's largest sculpture gallery will be launched on October 1 when Pangolin London opens in a 100 sq metre space at the new Kings Place development near King's Cross and St. Pancras International stations.

The final chapter in the story of ‘The Colin Wilson Monkeys’ ended quietly on July 30 when they sold at auction for an unspectacular £25,000.

GALERIE Kugel in Paris are to hold an exhibition of the Prince of Liechtenstein’s collection of bronzes from September 10 to November 7.

Two auctioneers, two Gérôme sculptures, but two very different estimates

THIS lifesize bust of the actor Charles Dance has been stolen from a car only days before it was due to be entered for exhibition.