Europe

A picture by the artist dubbed ‘the Irish Alfred Wallis’ soared above estimate to bring a record at Dublin saleroom Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium).

For over a century, the whereabouts of the painting Tanz im Varieté (Steptanz) (Vaudeville Dance/Tap Dance) by the Expressionist Ernst Ludig Kirchner were unknown.

Over the years, Cologne auction house Van Ham has achieved high prices for works by Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia.

The German artist Gabriel von Max (1840-1915) was not only an accomplished painter but also a passionate follower of Darwinism.

One of the highlights on the first day of the May 30-31 auction at Grisebach in Berlin is a collection of 33 works on paper from the collection of the one-time Cologne gallery owner Rudolf Zwirner.

Venetian painter sometimes used studio assistants

With very few exceptions, the French artist Victor Philippe Lemoine-Benoit devoted almost all of his painting career to one subject: hot-air balloons of the Montgolfière type.

This large silver zoomorphic aquamanile Caquesseitão (a vessel designed for the ceremonial washing of hands at the table) will feature as a highlight of the May sale to be held by Veritas Art Auctioneers in Lisbon.

It has often been said that no other work of art encompasses the spirit of the Bauhaus more perfectly than Marianne Brandt’s tea-infuser or Teeextraktkännchen MT49, as it was officially called.

An old label on the back of a Medway view that emerged in Germany gave a tantalising suggestion that the British artist John Constable was involved.

One of the lesser-known episodes in the long and eventful life of Francis Bacon lasted little more than five years and was later dismissed by the artist as unimportant.

British artist Albert Joseph Moore (1841-93) was predestined to become a painter, following in the footsteps of his father and four of his 13 siblings.

Toy specialist Lankes (25% buyer’s premium) in Döhlau, Germany auctioned the extensive inventory of the private museum in Prague belonging to Ivan Steiger, who is equally well-known as a caricaturist and a collector of toys.

European dealers and collectors competed for pieces of 18th century Transylvanian silver which were on sale at the 300th auction of Dr Fischer (30% buyer’s premium) in Heilbronn, Germany.