News

US: THE sudden resignations of Sotheby's chief executive Diana 'Dede' Brooks and chairman Alfred Taubman have come in the wake of the investigation into alleged commission fixing which has seen the company's stock plummet by 60 per cent since the start of this year.

UK: EVERY so often a dealer will acquire an object of academic interest for relatively little money and put it into an auction to see how much it will make.

FRANCE: THE French auction law reform bill had its second reading in the Senate on February 23 and, according to National President Gérard Champin, “90 per cent of the text has now been approved”.

UK: A HIGHLY important painting by the early Italian master Cimabue (c.1240-1302) has been discovered by Sotheby's at Benacre Hall, near Lowestoft, Suffolk, home of the reclusive Sir John Gooch, 12th Bt., who died last year.

CHRISTIE'S had their best ever year in 1999, exceeding the peak of annual turnover achieved at the height of the last art boom.

UK: While the art market has been quieter in the provincial salerooms since the New Year, an exception was provided by this oil on canvas View of Venice at the Entrance to the Grand Canal, which appeared at Lawrence's of Crewkerne on February 17.

UK: POLICE are investigating the possibility that the same gang is behind a number of thefts from antique shops in Greater London and Surrey over the last few months.