Art finance

The latest round of golf sales held up in Scotland threw up a now-familiar pattern of mixed results.

Non-EU imports and exports rise, with surges for Switzerland and others SLIGHT rises in UK art and antiques import and export totals for 2004 hide far more dramatic swings when assessed on a nation-by-nation basis.

JUNE has been quite a month for record-breaking results in 20th century design.

“The world of enamel signs is like football and this sign is like Manchester United. It's in near-perfect condition and is a remarkable survivor. What were once considered scrap metal are now being seen as the works of art they really are.”

Art of Dealing suggests way ahead for the art and antiques industry, and how to pay for it

SOTHEBY’S auction and related revenues rose by more than 20 per cent, year on year, for the first quarter of 2005, coming in at $72.2m.

A NUMBER of niche sales in spring once again showed why they are a matter of some envy among other auctioneers whose offerings are far more vulnerable to contrary winds of fashion and the general economy.

Hobbs Parker, Ashford, April 14. Buyer’s premium: 10 per cent“THE best sale for two years,” said auctioneer Alan White after Hobbs Parker’s April event.

A SECTION of the market which is very firm is that for Russian coins. There are a lot of recently enriched Russians who have been able to transfer their wealth out of the country.

PIMLICO dealer in 1940s design items Alex Von Motke, has suffered as much as anyone else from the dearth of American customers, frightened off by the strength of the pound.

Government report reveals impact of levy... and the cost The introduction of Droit de Suite in the UK could result in the loss of up to ten art dealing jobs for every artist who would benefit from the tax.

Gilding’s, Market Harborough, March 8, Buyer’s premium: 12.5 per centTHE decision by Leicestershire auctioneers Gilding’s to cut back their fine sales from six a year to quarterly events is perhaps a sign of the times, but the 510 lots offered in March appeared to signal that the shires are weathering the depression.

2005 looks set to be a bumper year for single-owner sales organised by the London rooms.

THE opportunities for the art and antiques trade in the current retail market are fundamentally good. This is the conclusion drawn by Paul Flatters of the Future Foundation.

YEAR-END results for Sotheby’s show a $100m-plus turnaround in profitability for 2004. It’s a figure that many will take as a sign that the formerly ailing auction house has finally shaken off the spectre of scandal and debt.

Hislop’s Art Sales Index, one of the oldest art price databases, has been sold to arts publisher LTB Holding Ltd.

TRADE minister Lord Sainsbury has told the House of Commons culture committee that implementing Droit de Suite effectively and comparatively cheaply is now the big challenge facing the Government.

When Bonhams embarked on their first dispersal of the mammoth Zorensky collection of First Period Worcester, there were murmurings in the trade (and presumably some crossed fingers in the saleroom’s ceramics department).

This year’s jewellery sales in the upscale Swiss winter resort of St Moritz – an annual fixture since 1995 – again fomented plenty of interest among the well-heeled private clientele in town at the height of the skiing season.

FAMOUS West End department store Heal’s is the sponsor of the V&A’s major spring exhibition, International Arts and Crafts, which will be held at the museum in South Kensington from March 17 to 24.