Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks

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Time to consider pocket watches as a collecting option

19 June 2023

Recent auction results in Germany and Switzerland give a snapshot of the market beyond wristwatches

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Beckmann's depiction of friend’s family comes to Munich auction

29 May 2023

Known for his countless self-portraits, second only in number to Rembrandt, and a distinctive style often with somewhat sinister undertones, Max Beckmann also created some surprising works.

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German artist Scholz's 'scandalous' picture takes six-figure sum at auction

29 May 2023

Berlin is obviously a good place to sell paintings by the German artist Georg Scholz (1890-1945), one of the leading representatives of Neue Sachlichkeit (new objectivity).

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Hungary's Munkácsy bid to more than three times estimate at Swiss auction

29 May 2023

Like many of his colleagues, the Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy (1844-1900) visited the major art centres of his day, such as Munich and Düsseldorf, before finally settling in Paris in 1871.

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Wooden netsuke achieve top prices at Viennese auction house

29 May 2023

Wooden examples of the art of netsuke are now the focus of collectors following ivory restrictions.

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Member of French clockmaking dynasty to feature in German auction

29 May 2023

The signature Fortin à Paris on the dial of this 21in (53cm) high marble and gilt bronze clock shows that it was made by a member of one of the most prominent Parisian clockmaker dynasties of the 18th century.

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Franco-Turkish artist Hamdi Bey's 'fashionable' picture takes €1m at auction

29 May 2023

Top lot of Dorotheum’s (25/20.84% buyer’s premium) Viennese sale of 19th century paintings on May 2 lived up to its expectations.

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Expressionists emerge together

29 May 2023

Van Ham of Cologne is offering a work by the German Expressionist Otto Mueller on the occasion of its 500th sale: the painting Frau und Knabe (Woman and Boy) from 1922.

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Galizia heads a selection of ‘Old Mistresses’ on offer at Vienna auction

29 May 2023

A previously undocumented painting, bought from an English dealer by a European collector in 1995, shines at Vienna sale.

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Maltese bidders write on cue

01 May 2023

Maltese furniture rarely makes it to the international auction market, so it was something of a sensation when a finely decorated, mid-18th century writing cabinet came up for sale at Metz (28% buyer’s premium) in Heidelberg.

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Coral from the coast of Sicily

01 May 2023

Since the 12th century the Sicilian town of Trapani has been closely connected to the art of coral carving. Thanks to the invention of a particular tool, ideally suited to the material, in the 16th century, the industry thrived.

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Early 19th century pianoforte makes sound price

01 May 2023

Until his death in 2022, the musicologist and collector Rudolf Ewerhart lived in Wassenach, some 20 miles to the west of Koblenz.

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Two vases sold in Germany underline demand for Bohemian glass

01 May 2023

Judging by recent results, there has been a resurgence of interest in products from the Bohemian glass manufacture of Lötz Wwe (Loetz widow).

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Mary medal is one of just two known

01 May 2023

To say that a mid-16th century gold medal that was auctioned by Künker (25% buyer’s premium) in Osnabrück during the sale of March 16-24 is rare would be quite an understatement.

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You’ve got the lion look

01 May 2023

The design of a sofa and two corresponding chairs on offer at Hargesheimer (28% buyer’s premium) in Düsseldorf could never be described as restrained.

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Anker sketch with Renaissance undertones

24 April 2023

Works by Albert Anker (1881-1910) are as popular with today’s Swiss collectors as they were in the late 19th century

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Lion hunt painting proves a real catch in Zürich auction

24 April 2023

The biggest surprise at a sale held by Schuler (23/20/16% buyer’s premium) came when the dramatic depiction of The Lion Hunt was offered for SFr3000

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The high priest of German Orientalism

24 April 2023

During the second half of the 19th and the early part of the 20th century, the German artist Ferdinand Keller (1842-1922) had a highly successful career as a painter of historical motifs, some imagined, some of a more documentary manner

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Guillaumin captivated by the Mediterranean light

27 March 2023

On numerous occasions in the early part of the 20th century, Armand Guillaumin visited the picturesque medieval seaside village of Le Brusc.

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Bavarian connoisseur clocks collection comes up for auction

27 March 2023

For three decades, from the 1950s-80s, a Bavarian connoisseur amassed a collection of clocks, some of which are being sold by Nagel in Stuttgart.