Switzerland

Li Keran, who died in 1989, is considered to be one of the most influential Chinese Contemporary painters. He not only taught a generation of young artists; he is credited with the revival of Chinese landscape painting.

The sale in 1872 of a silver pocket watch manufactured by Patek Philippe in Geneva to the jeweller and retailer Gondolo & Labouriau in Rio de Janeiro marked the beginning of a highly successful and mutually profitable business partnership that lasted until 1927.

A gold medal proclaiming Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church of England – the only known example in private hands – comes for sale in Switzerland.

Porcelain on offer in Swiss saleroom catches the eye of international bidders.

Recent stand-out lots from salerooms in Basel, Zurich, Constance, Stuttgart and Dresden

Among the highlights of the Asian Art auction at Koller on June 2 is this ink and colour scroll painting 'Sunrise at Mount Tai' by Li Keran (1907-89).

Second slice from Ducret collection plus other sources achieve high prices in Zurich

The highlight of the Koller spring series came from the Old Masters sale.

A spectacular parure of sapphires and diamonds, from the collection of Napoleon’s adoptive daughter, Stephanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden (1789-1860), is for sale at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on May 12.

In June 1925, only six months before his death, the Swiss painter Felix Vallotton and his wife visited the Périgord for the first time, which he declared to be “the most beautiful countryside on earth”.

It is well known that the death of an artist often leads to an upsurge of market interest and that has certainly happened with the Bulgarian Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, who died last year.

Works by Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918) were the highlights of the Koller (25/22/15% buyer’s premium) sale of Swiss Art, held in Zurich as part of its December auction series.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

A table screen was often to be found in the study of a Chinese scholar.

One section of the Asian art sale at Koller in Zurich on December 3, with its own catalogue, is devoted to a private collection of Chinese ink drawings.

Koller is holding a sale of Post-War and Contemporary art on December 5 in Zurich.

A 176-lot group of Meissen and other European porcelain from the collection of Dr Siegfried Ducret, consigned from the estate of Rosmarie Schmidt-Ducret, will be offered at auction by Koller in Zurich on September 24.

In a letter to his brother, written in 1883, Vincent van Gogh expressed his admiration for the Swiss painter Albert Anker.