Europe

Some of the world’s most famous Old Master paintings have been highly regarded for many centuries, carrying a reputation that has led to them being replicated and copied by other artists – sometimes soon after their creation.

Stuttgart auction house Nagel called it ‘beyond doubt one of the most important gilt-bronzes to appear on the market for many years’ – and the monumental Ming dynasty Sino-Tibetan figure of the wrathful deity Vajrabhairava did not disappoint.

The export of Italian art has become easier following changes made to the country’s cultural laws.

Pauses to lockdown easing across the UK may affect plans for larger art and antiques events, fairs and markets in the coming weeks, while in Ireland a lifting of restrictions has begun.

Determined international bidders knew exactly what they were looking for at a sale of icons and Russian works of art held by Dr Fischer (28% buyer’s premium) in Heilbronn.

For over a century, a 5ft x 6ft 4in (1.52 x 1.93m) painting of Samson and Delilah had slumbered as the work of an unknown Italian artist in a German private collection.

In 1922, Theo van Doesburg, gave a course at the Bauhaus in Weimar, devoted to the artists’ group De Stijl he had co-founded some five years before.

In the 1960s, the Austrian painter Günter Brus (b.1938) regularly made the headlines with his artistic happenings, which often involved covering himself and his models in paint and on one occasion, in 1965, led to him being arrested.

In the course of the 19th century, the company founded by Henrik Fredrik Jansen became one of the most important manufacturers of furniture and furnishings in Amsterdam.

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.

Bernard De Leye has been trading in silverware since 1977 and has been a regular participant at major antiques fairs in Belgium and France for many decades.

Among the antiquities coming up for sale at Gorny & Mosch in Munich on July 9 is this marble figure of a river god, carved in the first century, during the Roman imperial period.

The colour scheme and composition of 'Blauer Junge mit Sense' (Blue Boy with Scythe) appear almost psychedelic, but in fact the 4ft 8in x 6ft 8in (1.41 x 1.72cm) oil painting was executed in 1911.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Gustav Klimt was without doubt the most famous Austrian painter, and Josef Hoffmann the most renowned designer and architect.

Our selection of potential stand-out lots in sales across Europe, plus a French tribal art fair