International

About 80% of the global art market by value takes place outside the UK. The largest art market in the world is the US with China in third place (after the UK) followed by France, Germany and Switzerland.

Many more nations have a rich art and antiques heritage with active auction, dealer, fair, gallery and museum sectors even if their market size by value is smaller.

Read the top stories and latest art and antiques news from all these countries.

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Comic featuring Superman debut soars to record sum

15 April 2024

Priced 10 cents when it appeared in 1938, a copy of Action Comics No 1 which introduced Superman has become the world’s most valuable comic book.

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Copy of Toulouse-Lautrec's first poster emerges in US sale

15 April 2024

'Moulin Rouge, La Goulue' was Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s first commissioned poster and it launched his poster-making career overnight.

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Five questions with Bob Aibel of Moderne

15 April 2024

Bob Aibel is founder of Moderne, one of the exhibitors at the Philadelphia Show

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Professor lost his head but kept it as well

15 April 2024

Though the performer is largely forgotten today, two Bénévol-related items appeared at Bernaerts (25% buyer’s premium) in Antwerp as part of a Circus & Magic sale.

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Giant Garrard wine cistern adds plenty of weight to Heritage Auctions' sale

15 April 2024

Almost 3ft (90cm) wide and weighing a massive 710oz, this Edwardian wine cistern is marked for Garrard & Co, London, 1903.

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Microscopes under bidder focus in UK and US auctions

15 April 2024

This aristocratic survivor from the ‘brass and glass’ era of microscope making, a version of Powell & Lealand’s famous ‘No 1’ compound monocular and binocular microscope, is dated 1898.

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Tribal fair unveils its online version

15 April 2024

An early 20th century carving by Lagos pastor and artist Thomas Ona of a district commissioner is among the works available at this month’s Tribal Art Fair online.

Sophie Frémiet portrait

Dealer sells portrait by female artist to Getty Museum

11 April 2024

With international institutions keen to rebalance their collections to include more works by female artists, the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles announced this week that it has bought an early portrait by Sophie Frémiet (1797-1867).

2639AB Edit Heritage Action Comic Copy WEB VERSION

Copy of Action Comics No 1 featuring Superman debut soars to a world record price

11 April 2024

Priced 10 cents when it appeared in 1938, a copy of Action Comics No 1 which introduced Superman has become the world’s most valuable comic book.

Giorgio De Chirico, Manichini (Landau, TEFAF New York 2024)

De Chirico picture included in TEFAF New York highlights on the 100th anniversary of Surrealism

11 April 2024

Despite a strained relationship with Surrealism, the artist had a profound effect on the movement.

ATG Petition Crown Cope Collection

Geoffrey Cope collection of British and Roman coins to be sold in Zurich

10 April 2024

An outstanding collection of British and Roman coins comes to auction in Zurich this year.

Concetto spaziale, La fine di Dio

Egg-shaped artwork could set new auction record for Italian artist Lucio Fontana

09 April 2024

An artwork by Lucio Fontana, the Argentine-Italian artist known for his 'slashed canvas' creations, is coming to auction in May.

Celadon-glazed dragon box

Florida museum reveals purchase of early Chinese artefact alongside donation of 700 prints

08 April 2024

The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida has purchased an early Northern Song Dynasty stoneware box from a private US collector for a six-figure sum.

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Strong sales among uncertainty in Maastricht

08 April 2024

TEFAF Maastricht achieves many stand-out results but the reduced run time receives a mixed response

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Cole clock now with Oz dealer

08 April 2024

This parcel gilt silver cased cheval clock by Thomas Cole (1800-64) is hallmarked for London 1850 and the maker John Samuel Hunt of Hunt & Roskell.

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Louis Vuitton miniature trunk flies over estimate in Maine

08 April 2024

Correct in detail, material and quality of construction, down to brass hardware, stencilled cloth and monogrammed leather trim’, a miniature Louis Vuitton trunk sold for $7500 (£5900) at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium).

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Two for one deal on ‘Singer Sargent’

08 April 2024

Two watercolours in the manner of John Singer Sargent sailed above hopes when offered by Amelia Jeffers (20% buyer’s premium) in Delaware, Ohio on March 7.

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Intelligence officer's Korean screen goes over 100 times above estimate in New Orleans

08 April 2024

This Korean 10-panel folding screen made in the late 19th century in the final years of the Joseon period (1392- 1910) was offered on the second day of the recent Unreserved Sale at the Neal Auction Company (25/15% buyer’s premium).

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Chair made for the Vanderbilts brings bidding battle at Bonhams Skinner

08 April 2024

This Herter Bros inlaid rosewood and upholstered slipper chair was part of a suite made for the Vanderbilt family c.1881-82.

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Nicholson relief was produced as a Tate replica

08 April 2024

Ben Nicholson’s series of monochromatic three-dimensional relief paintings - created by the thick layers of white paint and carving wood - were first produced in the mid-to-late 1930s.

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