Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
John Constable view of The Thames emerges at Oxford auction
11 October 2017Oxford saleroom Mallams will offer a John Constable (1776-1837) landscape drawing on October 18. It will be estimated at £12,000-15,000.
Christie’s to offer Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ in New York with $100m estimate
10 October 2017Christie’s will offer Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ at a New York auction next month. It will carry an estimate 'in the region of' $100m.
Auction in support of Gainsborough
09 October 2017Leading UK artists have donated works for an auction raising funds to establish a national centre for the artist Thomas Gainsborough.
Mixed night for Francis Bacon at Christie’s
06 October 2017Two works from Francis Bacon’s (1909-1992) famous ‘Popes’ series met with contrasting fates at Christie’s latest post-war and contemporary art evening auction.
David Hockney’s Grand Canyon landscape lifts Sotheby’s ‘Frieze’ week auctions
06 October 2017Sotheby’s latest evening sale of Contemporary art in London raised a total of £50.3m including premium with a landscape by David Hockney (b.1937) among the lots drawing bidders.
Bonhams adjusts buyer’s premium thresholds
05 October 2017Bonhams has changed the price thresholds for its buyer’s premium. The new rates in the UK exactly mirror Christie’s charges but are slightly different to Sotheby’s adjusted fees structure which comes into force next month.
Works by Maggi Hambling and Antony Gormley to feature in auction to help ‘transform’ Gainsborough’s House into national centre
04 October 2017An auction of contemporary and post-war British art will be held in Sudbury this month to raise funds to establish a national centre for the artist Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88).
Brush washer sets £25m auction record for Chinese ceramics at Sotheby’s
03 October 2017Sotheby’s posted a record price for any piece of Chinese ceramics sold at auction after a rare Ru guanyao brush washer drew a 20 minute bidding battle in Hong Kong.
Hollywood comes to London: white-glove auctions for Vivien Leigh and Audrey Hepburn collections
02 October 2017The personal collections of film stars Vivien Leigh and Audrey Hepburn were both ‘white glove’ events in London last week.
Anthony Caro sculptures allocated to the Tate after settling £2.7m tax bill
02 October 2017Two abstract sculptures by Sir Anthony Caro have been acquired for the nation as part of the ‘Acceptance in Lieu’ scheme. Together they have settled £2.7m of inheritance tax due from the estate of Caro’s wife, the artist Sheila Girling, who died in 2015.
Yeats sale generates controversy and bidding at Sotheby’s
02 October 2017The sale of the Yeats collection at Sotheby’s in London brought mixed results: the highest estimated lot failed to sell but strong competition emerged elsewhere.
Philip Mould and National Gallery of Ireland among buyers at Yeats collection sale at Sotheby’s
28 September 2017Dealer Philip Mould was among the bidders at Sotheby’s sale of the Yeats collection this week.
Oak coffer boosted by rare form and excellent condition at Bonhams' sale
26 September 2017The highlight of Bonhams’ latest sale of oak furniture in London was a joined coffer made in the West Country and dating from 1609.
Julian Thomson takes the helm at Anderson & Garland
25 September 2017Newcastle auction house Anderson & Garland is under new ownership after Julian Thomson and Fred Wyrley-Birch bought out the previous owner Andrew McCoull.
Tate’s acquisitions valued at £27.4m in this year’s annual report
25 September 2017More than 1000 works were acquired by the Tate in the last year according to its latest annual report. They ranged from Old Masters to Contemporary art and had a combined value of £27.4m.
New managing director for Bonhams Scotland
21 September 2017Bonhams have appointed Charles Graham-Campbell as managing director of its operations in Scotland.
Joseph Wright of Derby academy scene among leading lights at Sotheby’s Old Master auction
19 September 2017Sotheby’s is offering a fine painting by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-97) at its Old Master evening sale in December. It comes to auction with an unbroken provenance going back well over a century and is estimated at £2.5m-3.5m.
Chicago collector wins $200,000 bidding battle for 1857 map of the “Windy City” at Leslie Hindman auction
18 September 2017One of only four known copies of a ‘pre-fire’ Chicago map by cartographer J.T. Palmatary drew intense competition at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ latest sale, selling at over six-times estimate.
Model locomotives steam into auctions in Sheffield and Sherborne
18 September 2017Model steam trains are a niche collecting area but examples which precisely match the actual engines they represent can make thousands of pounds.
Collector creates website to record the works of Thomas Baker of Leamington
18 September 2017About a month ago, collector Robert Mulraine launched a website dedicated to the artist Thomas Baker of Leamington (1808-1869). A great enthusiast of the Victorian landscape painter, he has been working with the curatorial team of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to create an online ‘Memoranda of Pictures’ based on the artist’s five diaries in the museum’s collection.