Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Hans Coper on the hour
02 January 2023Long before the auction in Krefeld began, it was clear that the price for a vase by Hans Coper would be way higher than the estimate of €8000.
Chadwick proved his mettle
21 November 2022A welding course was to have a lasting effect on the artistic development of the British sculptor Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003).
Augsburg and Meissen mix help fuel demand for cutlery set at Metz auction
14 November 2022The combination of Meissen porcelain and Augsburg silver proved to be a winning formula at a sale held by Metz (25% buyer’s premium) in Heidelberg.
Bixie could bring power and position if third time lucky
14 November 2022A multitude of fabulous creatures are an integral part of traditional Chinese mythology. Among them is the Bixie, whose name translates as ‘to ward off evil spirits’.
Venus sculpture triples estimate in Munich
14 November 2022The sculptor Prosper d’Épinay (1836-1914) was a true cosmopolitan. Born in Mauritius, he later became a British subject, but is still often considered to be a French artist.
First Giacometti man strides out
14 November 2022Two closely related bronze sculptures by Alberto Giacometti are among the highlights of the Modern and Contemporary sales on December 2 at Lempertz in Cologne.
Eighteenth century flask sells for strong price
14 November 2022Glassware with provenance to Augustus of Saxony takes five-figure sum
Watch given as gift to Thomas Mann’s favoured grandson emerges
14 November 2022In his diary entry for August 12, 1950, the German writer and Nobel Prize recipient Thomas Mann described a meeting with his daughter-in-law Gret, who had married his youngest son Michael in 1939, and her 10-year-old son Frido in a café in Innsbruck.
Marcks hoped for better
24 October 2022The creative roots of this 22in (56cm) bronze figure, which was one of the highlights at Nusser (22.69% buyer’s premium), date back to the pre-war years.
Series idea born after a friend’s pregnancy
24 October 2022Since 1969, when it was sold at a gallery exhibition in Munich, one of Niki de Saint Phalle’s (1930-2002) well-known Nanas had belonged to a south German collector.
Rage against the perfect machine
24 October 2022The complex and sometimes bizarre machines that the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely (1925-91) constructed during his long career belong to the most distinctive examples of kinetic art.
Take a seat and have a discussion
24 October 2022The central motif of Antoni Tàpies’ (1923- 2012) Personnage assis (Variation XI) has been the subject of many discussions among art historians.
Regular Lake Como villa visits left Hockney full of beans
24 October 2022Watercolour given as thanks to his Heinz family host in 2003 now sells to a US collector.
Bloody good or bloody bad
24 October 2022The Austrian artist and composer Hermann Nitsch, who died earlier this year at the age of 84, had as many detractors as followers.
Check out Whitney’s spontaneous design
24 October 2022According to Munich saleroom Ketterer, the 3ft 4in (1.02m) square painting N. O. 9th . Ward, which is part of the sale on December 9, is the first work by the American artist Stanley Whitney (b.1946) ever to be offered at a German auction.
Example of the world’s first functioning lighter offered in Germany
17 October 2022Among the eye-catchers at Wendl in Rudolstadt from October 27-29 is an example of the world’s first functioning lighter.
Swiss selection of Russian silver
17 October 2022A three-day auction held by Schuler (23/20/16% buyer’s premium) in Zurich achieved numerous notable results.
Silver candlesticks linked to Prussian royal family spotted by eagle-eyed bidders
17 October 2022On the first day of an auction held by Schloss Ahlden (26% buyer’s premium), a German collector with a passion for history saw off numerous dealers and collectors from home and abroad who had also trained their sights on a set of four silver candlesticks from the early 19th century.
Rich harvest nine years later
17 October 2022The private collector who consigned a painting he had bought at Sotheby’s in London in 2013 to Koller (25/22/15% buyer’s premium) in Zurich for the auction on September 23 will have been most agreeably surprised by the result.
The mysterious bi-conical bottles
17 October 2022From the late Middle Ages onwards, an unusual form of glass bottle appeared in many parts of continental Europe.