North America

As Sotheby’s ex-boss Alfred Taubman faced a New York jury last week on criminal charges of fixing vendors premiums with Christie’s, there was still no sign of money owed to dealers in the related civil law suit that was settled in April. The reason? Two US appeals.

USA: As expected, US show organiser Sanford Smith has been forced to follow other New York fairs and cancel his two high-profile mid-November shows at the city’s two armory buildings.

Christie’s are to make 23 staff redundant in Los Angeles, their second largest saleroom in America. The decision is part of an ongoing, worldwide cost-cutting programme undertaken by the company following the settlement of the $256m lawsuit over commissions and the downturn in the art market this year.

The most hotly contested property in Christie’s 335-lot Japanese and Korean sale on October 15 was a selection of Korean art from the Falk collection. Just over half of the reasonably estimated 55 Korean entries hailed from this New York collection, that attracted new American buyers as well as regular European privates and dealers.

USA: STELLA Management have been forced to cancel New York’s Triple Pier Antiques Show despite moving the venue.

AWAY from New York, the international trade have been preparing to return to serious business in the US at David and Lee Ann Lester’s second annual Texas International Fine Art Fair, running from November 1 to 7.

Penrith Farmers' and Kidd's have been badly affected by world events this past year. Situated in one of the worst hit areas for the Foot and Mouth epidemic, the county all but shut up shop. And just as things were starting to pick up the devastating events in America have created a marked caution in the trade.

THIS year’s annual International Fine Print Dealers Association Print Fair, scheduled for October 31 to November 4, has been cancelled with the forced closure of the Seventh Regiment Armory to non-military activities.

SOTHEBYS.COM are offering a rare portrait by Frederick Lord Leighton, which has been discovered in the estate of a collector from Indiana in the United States.

Cloudband.com, the specialist Website firm for rugs and textiles, have had their financing badly hit as a direct result of terrorist attacks in New York on September 11.

Lawyers have filed a motion attempting to quash a case that has the potential to blight the entire trade in Egyptian antiquities in the United States.

Several auction records were broken when Christie’s New York sold the library of Abel E. Berland in an October 8-9 sale that saw 90 per cent of lots sold for a premium-inclusive total of $14.4m (£9.8m).

FAIRS organisers in New York plan to approach the city authorities with a view to getting events back on track as soon as possible. But they fear that with the continuing problems facing the city, it will be January at the earliest before suitable space can be found to resume anything close to a normal service.

The imminent cessation of all sales – including wine – at Sotheby’s Chicago has left a gap in the Mid-West market that newly-established wine auctioneers Edward Roberts International are keen to fill. Brainchild of Edward Robert Brooks, the much-travelled head of Christie’s and the short-lived Phillips’ North American wine departments, Edward Roberts will mount their first live sale of fine and rare wines at The Union League Club of Chicago on Saturday, November 10.

MORE than 20 of New York’s top dealers who had signed up for the cancelled International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show are holding special selling exhibitions in their shops and galleries from October 18 to 23.

THE cataclysmic events of September 11 in New York have thrown into spasm a UK art market that was already showing worrying signs of slowdown both in terms of supply and demand.

Transit papers lost in terror attacks. UK shipping firms have reported cancellations from American dealers and a back-log of freight waiting to clear US customs in the aftermath of terrorist attacks on September 11.

DEALER antipathy and logistical problems have forced Anna and Brian Haughton to postpone their New York International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show after all.

USA: THE EVENTS of September 11 in New York had repercussions well beyond the city and its environs as antiques and collectables became a low priority for most Americans. Although most fairs did go ahead, a number were postoned or cancelled in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks and the effects on show schedules could stretch well into October and beyond.

USA: As Sotheby’s scale down their operations in the American Midwest, the possiblity of a new auction powerhouse in the region has emerged as a group of investors seek to gain control of both Dargate Auction Rooms of Pittsburgh and the Cleveland-based eWolfs.