Europe

This Allegory of Spring by the 17th century Italian artist Pietro Liberi (Padua 1605-Venice 1687) is one of the works in the May 21 auction of Old Master paintings and furnishings that opens Babuino’s next auction series in Rome.

Bid to €60,000 (£53,100) in a March 16 sale held by Venator & Hanstein (23% buyer’s premium) was a group of letters sent by Charles Darwin in the 1860s and ‘70s to a German botanist, Friedrich Hildebrand.

Old Masters and post-Impressionist paintings, vintage luggage and the almost inevitable Asian artefacts all appeared among the best-sellers in the recent round of auctions held across Germany and Switzerland.

Axel Plambeck (b.1936) was CEO of a re-insurance company and in his spare time he collected vintage luggage and picnic sets.

A late 19th century Art Nouveau centrepiece is one of the highlights at Quittenbaum’s Munich sale on May 15.

Main stage at the design auction at Dorotheum in Vienna on May 30 is taken by jewellery designed by Josef Hoffmann, one of the leading lights of the Wiener Werkstätte.

Pride comes before a fall and in the case of Napoleon, Smolensk came before Moscow. On May 18 Ketterer Kunst is selling a 2ft x 2ft 7in (60 x 79cm) scene of Napoleon observing the burning city of Smolensk.

Numerous works of art in the spring sales at Van Ham in Cologne come from the extensive legacy of Friedrich Wilhelm Waffenschmidt (1925-2017), founder of one of Europe’s leading electronics retailers.

The last weekend of the month, May 25-27, is given over to the latest staging of the Journées Marteau (Art Auctioneers Days) held by the French auctioneers’ association SYMEV.

Survivals of ancient classical sculpture carved from ivory are incredibly rare, so the appearance on the market of this naturalistically carved ancient Greek horse’s head is a notable occasion.

In this second part of ATG’s review of the various events held during Paris drawings week, we turn the spotlight onto one particular medium: the pastel portrait.

On April 28 the Bordeaux auction house Briscadieu is holding a sale devoted to Peintures Bordelaises – featuring scenes by a mix of local artists and those from further afield who visited this picturesque region. An idea started in 2015, this is the auctioneers’ third such themed sale.

Book dealers seek change to 250-years-old clause in proposed import licensing law.

Increasing number of auctions and shows around the Salon make Paris a must in March.