Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Barlach on song as bronze sculpture cast comes to Cologne sale
30 November 2020Many of the German sculptor Ernst Barlach’s works have a musical connection and none more so than the bronze 'Der singende Mann' (The Singing Man).
Asian art preview: Extended sale, extensive collections on offer
23 November 2020The auctioneers at Nagel in Stuttgart will have their work cut out at the upcoming sale of Asian art.
Nineteenth century take on archaic
23 November 2020This 19th century take on an archaic vessel is one of the objects on sale at Hargesheimer in Düsseldorf on December 5.
Crabs on screen
23 November 2020A table screen was often to be found in the study of a Chinese scholar.
Chinese ink drawings emerge in Zurich
23 November 2020One section of the Asian art sale at Koller in Zurich on December 3, with its own catalogue, is devoted to a private collection of Chinese ink drawings.
Deity hails from an old Dutch collection
23 November 2020At 2ft 5in (73cm), this Blanc de Chine figure of Guanyin on sale at Lempertz in Cologne on December 15 is unusually large.
Trademark grid work by Otto Piene
16 November 2020Koller is holding a sale of Post-War and Contemporary art on December 5 in Zurich.
Fernando Botero sculpture emerges at Van Ham in Cologne
16 November 2020The Colombian artist Fernando Botero is primarily known for his exaggerated painted portrayals of people, a style that he also applied to his still-lifes and now goes by the name of Boterismo.
Christo had a surprise in store
16 November 2020In 1964, the Bulgarian artist Christo Javacheff and his wife Jeanne-Claude made a first visit to New York. Soon afterwards they worked on their projects titled Store Fronts, Show Cases and Show Windows.
Brazilian diplomat's modern art collection offered in Berlin auction
16 November 2020As part of its Modern and Contemporary sales on December 3-4, Grisebach in Berlin is selling the collection of Mário Calábria, who for many decades combined his profession as a Brazilian diplomat with his passion for Modern art.
Warhol fascinated by Christmas kitsch
16 November 2020Before he turned to painting cans of soup and Brillo boxes, Andy Warhol had to make a living by more conventional means.
White-glove auction as Berlin museum collection is dispersed
02 November 2020Modern paintings and whole wunderkammer from a closed museum deliver sell-out response
Sebastian Vrancx conflict scene emerges at Munich auction
02 November 2020In the 1620s, Sebastian Vrancx was among the most prominent painters working in Antwerp. He was famed for his landscapes and village scenes, but was also renowned for his often drastically detailed depictions of battles.
Dalpayrat vases offered in German sale
02 November 2020Before he started producing his own ceramics in the late 1880s in Paris, at the age of 45, Adrien Dalpayrat had worked as a faïence painter in numerous other factories.
Bone up on Japanese woodblocks
02 November 2020On November 18 Van Ham in Cologne will hold a Decorative Art auction which will include several more items from the collection of Thomas Olbricht.
Ten minutes to make impact
02 November 2020The French clockmaker Antide Janvier, who constructed his first mechanical globe when he was only 15, is primarily famous for his highly complex astronomical clocks and planetaria.
Danish painter's contemporary view of a tragedy offered in Vienna
02 November 2020A tragic shipwreck provided the Danish marine painter Anton Melbye and his colleague John William Bottomley, a German of Irish origin, with a dramatic subject for their 2ft x 2ft 11in (60 x 90cm) oil painting The Wreck of the Anglo Saxon from 1863.
Eye-opening images feature in German auction
12 October 2020An October 27-30 sale of more than 2800 lots at Reiss & Sohn of Königstein-im-Taunus includes a 1583 first of Georg Bartisch’s Opthalmodouleia…, a famous work on eye surgery that is also the first extensively illustrated account of any surgical speciality.
Remembering the ‘happy’ jester
28 September 2020Joseph Fröhlich (1694-1757) was a well-known figure at the Saxon court from the late 1720s onwards. He was appointed court jester to Augustus the Strong in 1727 and held the position for three decades – perfect for a man whose family name translates as ‘happy’.
Dealer event in Munich gets green light for 11th edition at Bavarian royal palace
28 September 2020Fair organisers are not to be envied at the moment. Only at the beginning of September were the managers of the 'Highlights Fair' in Munich given the go-ahead for this year’s event (the 11th edition) which is opening its doors to the general public from October 22-25.