UK

In 1977, three years before his untimely death, Joy Division’s singer songwriter Ian Curtis wrote the lyrics to ‘Failures’: “Wise words and sympathy/Tell the story of our history.”

ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week.

A previously undocumented archive of writings by Edward Carpenter, the well-connected socialist poet and gay rights pioneer, sold for a hammer price of £4200, more than eight times its upper estimate, at Bamfords in Derby this month.

Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull will no longer sell antique items made from rhino horn.

Christie’s auction of the George Michael collection in London tonight was led by 'The Incomplete Truth' by Damien Hirst (b.1965), a work from 2006 featuring a dove in a tank of formaldehyde.

A rediscovered melody by Sir Edward Elgar will be offered at auction in Lichfield after it was found in an autograph book.

A small piece of Star Wars action figure history comes for sale at Vectis Auctions in Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees next month.

It is not quite a full house in a game of cards, but Sotheby’s Made in Britain auction has dealt three ‘queens’ alongside works by British artists including David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, Dame Lucie Rie, Mary Fedden and Beryl Cook.

A tape thought to contain “possibly the first ever demo version” of David Bowie’s 1972 hit ‘Starman’ drew strong competition at Omega Auctions’ latest sale.

As TEFAF Maastricht and BADA fairs get underway, organisers and exhibitors tell ATG that immersion in art and antiques is the perfect antidote to the political crisis unfolding in Westminster.

Contemporary art from the collection of one of London’s oldest charities went on view last night ahead of Lyon & Turnbull’s inaugural Modern Made auction this month.

The art collection of singer and songwriter George Michael is being offered at Christie’s in a two-part auction this week. The lots will be divided between a 61-lot live sale at King Street in London on March 14 and a further 112 feature in an online timed sale that runs until March 15.

As we approach a crunch vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, a no-deal result is still a possibility – so too the prospect of an extension to the Article 50 process beyond the March 29 deadline.

Sotheby’s held its very first auction on March 11, 1744, and today it is celebrating this 275-year milestone with the opening of an exhibition detailing its history in pictures.

The Cotswold Art & Antique Dealers’ Association fair switched its 2019 slot at Blenheim Palace from April to February and ATG went along on the final day to see the results.