Art Market

The Martyrdom of Saint Victoria (1737), Nicolas-Sébastien Adam. Sotheby's Paris: estimate €200,000–€300,000

In London’s salerooms, bigger is no longer better

Auction highlights this month include a dramatic plaster relief in Paris, and a diminutive but vibrant Van Gogh in London

6 Jun 2017
Bird's Hell (1938), Max Beckmann. © Christie’s Images Limited 2016

As visceral a painting as you will ever encounter…

Max Beckmann’s ‘Bird’s Hell’, a terrifying vision of cruelty painted after he fled Nazi Germany, is to be sold at auction for the first time

2 Jun 2017

The contemporary art market regains its swagger

Plus: major lots announced for the London modern art sales

28 May 2017
Eight Panels from 'The Birth of Aphrodite' mural from the Grand Salon of the S.S. Normandie (c. 1934), Jean Dupas. Estimate in the region of $1 million. Image courtesy Sotheby's

Gilded glass from the world’s most glamorous ship

The legendary S.S. Normandie was lost to fire in the 1940s, but relics from its luxury interior survive – including these verre églomisé panels

19 May 2017
Jpeg pt01 (detail; 2006), Thomas Ruff. © 2017 Christie's Images Limited

The record-breaking rise of the Düsseldorf School

Prices are rocketing for photographs by Bernd and Hilla Becher and their students at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf

18 May 2017

TEFAF makes its mark on New York

Plus: Dreweatts and Mallett sold, and dealers on the move in London

14 May 2017
Femme assise, robe bleue (detail;1939), Pablo Picasso. Christie's New York, estimate: $35–$50m

Modern masters lead the way in New York

Auction highlights this month include a Twombly masterpiece that has never appeared at auction before and a striking portrait by Picasso

11 May 2017
Marsh Lane Diversion by Rob Chavasse, installed at Frieze London in 2016

When artists take on the art market

Many artists are uncomfortable about the perceived excesses of the market. But can they actually do anything about it?

6 May 2017
Inkstand with figures of the Virtues (c. 1480–90), probably Faenza. Courtesy Sam Fogg

Early maiolica has it all – even humour

These supposedly ‘primitive’ ceramics from late medieval and early Renaissance Italy are fresh, inventive and fun

5 May 2017
Detail of a female figure, 19th century, Lobi, Burkina Faso. Serge Schoffel at Cultures: The Worlds Arts Fair

This month’s unmissable international art events

Antiques in Hong Kong, tribal art in France, and London’s first quattrocento maiolica show in 100 years

3 May 2017
Olla, (c. 600 BC), Italy, Faliscan. Charles Ede

TEFAF takes a contemporary turn in New York

Modern and contemporary art and design take centre stage at the first ever TEFAF New York Spring

2 May 2017
La Muse Endormie (cast by 1913), Constantin Brancusi.

May madness gets underway in New York

Plus: art fair shake-ups in Germany and an Ottoman art record in London

28 Apr 2017

How UK institutions are benefitting from a quiet tax break

Many acquisitions at UK museums are made possible by a tax break that benefits both buyer and seller

26 Apr 2017
'Mementos. Artists Souvenirs, Artefacts and other Curiosities' (2017), Art Brussels.

Highlights of Art Brussels

Like the city itself, the strength of this fair is in its variety

23 Apr 2017
Carved cinnabar lacquer dish (Lat Yuan/early Ming dynasty), China. Sotheby's.

The unsung beauty of Chinese cinnabar lacquer

Lacquer is an extemely difficult material to work with, but the results can be extraordinary

21 Apr 2017

Who’s collecting German experimental prints?

There has always been a market for early 20th-century German prints, but it’s constantly evolving as tastes and expertise change

19 Apr 2017
Nude Sunbathing (detail; 1995), Roy Lichtenstein.

Battling for bragging rights ahead of the New York sales

The auction houses have announced their top lots for the May sales in New York

17 Apr 2017
Nu sur fond jaune (1930), Raoul Dufy. Grob Gallery at Art en Vieille-Ville

A guide to this month’s best art fairs

Art Brussels, Art Cologne, and the London Original Print Fair all return in the coming weeks, and the countdown to Art en Vieille-Ville in Geneva begins

17 Apr 2017
Head of Avalokiteshvara, Tang dynasty (618–906), dry lacquer, ht 67.8cm. Sotheby’s Hong Kong, estimate: HK$18m–HK$25m

Rare Asian art comes to the block at Sotheby’s

Auction highlights this month include an outstanding example of early Ming porcelain and a rare Nicholas Lancret painting

12 Apr 2017
A polychrome glazed terracotta bust of a laureate in a frame of fruit, vegetables and pine cones (c. 1487–94), Andrea della Robbia

The Della Robbia that escaped disaster

This glazed terracotta roundel by Andrea della Robbia was made for a palace that was promptly destroyed

7 Apr 2017
Danseuses en blanc (c. 1878), Edgar Degas. Courtesy Sotheby's

‘You can get real fireworks with pastels’

Why Impressionist and Post-Impressionist pastels are becoming increasingly attractive to art collectors of all sorts

Nature morte au citron et pichet rouge (Still Life with Lemon and Red Pitcher) (1964), after Pablo Picasso. Estimate: $6,000–8,000

Picasso’s printmakers step into the spotlight

The Crommelynck brothers worked with the greatest artists of the 20th century to produce extraordinary prints, some of which will soon come to auction

24 Mar 2017
Saint Francis of Assisi (detail) (1842), Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Galerie de Bayser, €40,000

Discover the best drawings at Salon du Dessin 2017

The Parisian fair returns this month to celebrate one of the most instinctive and timeless of mediums

18 Mar 2017
Still Life with Quinces, Apples, Azeroles (Hawthorn berries), Black grapes, White grapes, Figs and Pomegranates Bartolomeo Cavarozzi (1587–1625), Italian painter active in Spain. Sold at Colnaghi, asking price €5m

TEFAF exhibitors report another fruitful fair

Early reported sales at TEFAF Maastricht were strong, particularly among Old Master dealers

17 Mar 2017