Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
Consultation launched into overseas hallmarking
20 July 2017The British Hallmarking Council has launched a public consultation into the issue of UK assay offices using traditional hallmarks in overseas operations.
WATCH: Christie’s South Kensington chairman Nic McElhatton makes emotional speech at saleroom’s final auction
19 July 2017The final auction at Christie’s South Kensington took place today with a 466-lot ‘Interiors’ sale rounding off the saleroom’s 42-year history. Before offering the final two lots of the sale, chairman of CSK Nic McElhatton made an emotional speech to bid farewell to one of London’s most popular auction venues.
Dealers and auctioneers banned from adding card charges to buyers in UK law change
19 July 2017New rules coming into force in January 2018 mean that dealers and auctioneers can no longer add extra charges to cover credit or debit card fees when processing transactions.
Busy bar scene by Norman Cornish takes £16,000 in Yorkshire auction
18 July 2017The second highest ever price at auction for ‘pitman painter’ Norman Cornish (1919-2014) was set at the latest sale held at Tennants in Leyburn, Yorkshire.
Rossetti ‘Lady Lilith’ portrait returns from Japan and sells for £560,000 at auction
17 July 2017A Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) portrait of his mistress Fanny Cornforth led Sotheby’s latest sale of Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art in London.
Money laundering: know the rules
17 July 2017The art and antiques sector is a target for money launderers and the industry must be aware of new regulations, a leading anti-corruption group has said.
US retailer fined after seizure of illegally imported cultural property
10 July 2017A large high street chain in the US has been fined $3m in connection with the purchase and importing of a large number of ancient Iraqi artefacts.
Guardi and Turner top Old Master sales
10 July 2017The latest Old Master sales in London put in a solid performance with the overall total from last week’s auction series running at £115m (including premium) with one day sale still to take place at the time of going to press.
De Pury ‘cut out of gentleman’s agreement’
10 July 2017A claim by former auctioneer turned art-advisor Simon de Pury that he is owed $10m for facilitating the sale of a work by Paul Gauguin was heard before the High Court in London last week.
Guardi’s view of Rialto Bridge leads Christie’s Old Masters evening auction
07 July 2017Francesco Guardi’s (1712-93) 'The Rialto Bridge with the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi' led Christie’s latest evening sale of Old Masters in London. It was knocked down at £23.25m following a competition between two phone bidders.
JMW Turner’s landscape sells for ‘underwhelming’ £17m
06 July 2017In a lively evening sale of Old Masters at Sotheby’s, one of the few large-scale oil paintings by JMW Turner (1775-1851) left in private hands was knocked down at £17m.
WATCH – “I’ve sold things at Olympia that I couldn’t sell at Masterpiece”
05 July 2017This year was the 45th anniversary of the summer Olympia fair or, as it is now known, ‘The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia’. ATG visited during the middle of its latest run to gauge how exhibitors were finding the event this year.
WATCH: what dealers told ATG at Masterpiece
30 June 2017The eighth edition of ‘Masterpiece London’ opened its doors this week and some of the 150 exhibitors taking stands at the fair – billed as the capital’s premier art and antiques event – shared their thoughts about the event on camera with ATG.
Asian buyer wins bidding battle for Henry Moore’s family group at Christie’s auction
27 June 2017A bronze family group by Henry Moore (1898-1986) led Christie’s evening sale of Modern British & Irish art in London last night, selling at £3.3m to an Asian collector.
Three men charged in New York over fake Damien Hirst artworks sold to a “multitude of buyers” on eBay
26 June 2017Three men have been charged in a New York court in connection with a $400,000 scam to sell fake artworks by Damien Hirst.
Wassily Kandinsky abstract painting takes record £29m at Sotheby’s
22 June 2017A painting from 1913 by Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) drew an intense bidding battle at Sotheby’s latest evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art in London.
Telephone bidding battle lifts James Bateman’s view of the South Downs to £30,000
21 June 2017A dramatic bidding competition for a wartime farming scene by James Bateman (1893-1959) came at the latest sale held at Littleton Auctions in Worcestershire. Estimated at £3000-4000, ‘Ploughing the Downs’ was eventually knocked down at £30,000, a house record for the saleroom.
Hove at sunset – Algernon Newton painting bid to £80,000 at Bonhams’ auction
15 June 2017A painting of Hove by Algernon Newton (1880-1968) drew keen bidding at Bonhams’ sale of Modern British and Irish art yesterday.
10 highlights from London’s Russian art auctions
14 June 2017The Russian art auction series in London last week showed signs of some improvement in the market following a prolonged downturn since the bubble burst around a decade ago. The sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, MacDougall’s and Bonhams generated a premium-inclusive £23.2m, up from the £16.4m posted at the equivalent series last year.
William Roberts’ tea garden takes £700,000 at Sotheby’s
13 June 2017A quintessentially British scene by William Roberts (1895-1980) sparked lively bidding at Sotheby’s yesterday. ‘The Tea Garden’ from 1928 was estimated at £250,000-350,000 but was knocked down at £700,000, the second-highest price at auction for the artist.