Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
The Curwen Studio archive dispersed
10 May 2021Among the publishing houses that helped put Modern British prints on the map was The Curwen Studio.
A prime period Nicholson print sells at Dawsons
10 May 2021'Five Circles' first appeared as part of Ben Nicholson’s (1894-1982) publication 23 Gravures in 1934 and was then released as a limited-edition print. The initial run of approximately 30 signed copies was followed by various reprintings.
Benin plaque withdrawn from auction after curator raises provenance questions
03 May 2021The increasingly contentious issue of selling Benin works of art at auction raised its head again last week after an ancestral plaque catalogued as 16th or 17th century was withdrawn from an East Sussex sale.
Edward Seago: the artist favoured by the royal family
03 May 2021Edward Seago was a favourite of the establishment, royals in particular, but has a wider appeal such as his views of Hong Kong
Old Masters impress in Berkshire
03 May 2021The best competition at a recent mixed-category sale came for two Old Masters.
Ostrich ruffles feathers at £1.41m
26 April 2021A bronze sculpture of an ostrich catalogued as from the workshop of Mannerist sculptor Giambologna drew an extraordinary competition in Cambridge.
Pick of the week: Gainsborough back in dealer’s hands
26 April 2021A work thought to be one of Thomas Gainsborough’s (1727-88) earliest attempts at oil painting as well as his earliest-known self-portrait was one of a number of lots drawing considerable attention at Cheffins.
Collection fit to take centre stage
26 April 2021Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt was one of the stand-out lots in a 300-lot white-glove auction.
Cloudy landscape gives a nod to Constable
26 April 2021A Constable-esque landscape turned a few heads at Chorley’s (22.5% buyer’s premium) latest fine art and antiques sale.
Another white glove in the frame
26 April 2021Another white-glove group of items featured at Parker Fine Art earlier this year when all 300 picture frame lots sold in its first sale of 2021, raising a hammer total of £38,400.
Bidders go head to head in Cambridge as bronze ostrich sells for £1.41m
22 April 2021A bronze sculpture of an ostrich catalogued as from the workshop of Mannerist sculptor Giambologna drew an extraordinary competition at Cheffins in Cambridge today.
Loppé pays homage to Mont Blanc
19 April 2021Two studies by the climber/artist/photographer are bought by London dealer Mitchell
Bidders sense a Schlesinger saleroom opportunity
19 April 2021Five paintings representing the five senses by Henri Guillaume Schlesinger offered by Bonhams boasted a French royal provenance.
View of the Thames by Victorian artist stuns market with six-figure sum at Bonhams
12 April 2021Lesser-known painter Alice Boyd emerges via Cheyne Walk at London auction
Sister act – Augustus John portraits
12 April 2021Depiction of one McNeill sister sets a record while portrait of her sibling also appears at another auction
Top sum for a van Gogh drawing at Christie's
12 April 2021An eight-lot sale in New York titled A Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud raised a premium-inclusive total of $25.3m (£18.2m).
Archibald Thorburn seagulls fly high at Tennants
12 April 2021It is often said there is a strict hierarchy for the prices of game bird pictures by the great ornithological artist Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935).
Proud Yorkshireman’s view of God’s Own Country
12 April 2021Tennants offered a well-received 70-lot sale dedicated to views mostly of Yorkshire from a private collection last month.
Mountbatten family collection raises £5.6m at Sotheby’s
05 April 2021Sotheby’s reported 1400 bidders from 55 countries participating in the auction of the collection of Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (1924-2017).
Dutch dealers strike out on their own with online fair
01 April 2021Dealers from the Royal Dutch Fine Art & Antique Dealer Association (KVHOK) have joined forces to launch an online fair which opens this month.