Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Historic city Bamberg hosts 24th dealer exhibition event
15 July 2019Since the late 1880s, opera fans have braved the often intense heat of the summer to visit the Wagner festival in Bayreuth.
Sold for 914 times top estimate: £5m ‘Botticelli’ stuns saleroom
08 July 2019Spectators at an auction in Zürich were left flabbergasted when a Quattrocento panel painting with a SFr5000-7000 estimate catalogued as ‘in the style of Sandro Botticelli (c.1445-1510)’ was knocked down at SFr6.4m (£5.16m) after an intense 10-minute bidding battle.
Ground hero: mortars from Schwarzach collection impress at Cologne auction
01 July 2019Cologne auction house Lempertz (24% buyer’s premium) held a recent sale devoted to the Schwarzach Collection of mortars, which is thought to be the most extensive of its type in Europe, if not worldwide.
Art Nouveau jardinière design not seen since 1904 re-emerges at German auction
03 June 2019Ceramics are a major focus of this report on sales from Germany. The selection of highlights and unusual pieces ranges from early 19th century products of the Vienna factory via Art Nouveau creations and 1920s Soviet-era porcelain to works by famed 20th century Studio potters.
Three lots coming up in German salerooms this month
03 June 2019Three potential highlights from German auctions at Van Ham in Cologne, Quittenbaum in Munich and Wendl in Rudolstadt.
Münter oils impress in Stuttgart sale
03 June 2019Five oil paintings by the German artist Gabriele Münter, long-time companion and partner of Wassily Kandinsky, were very much at the centre of the action on May 8 in Stuttgart when Nagel (33% buyer’s premium) sold Modern and Contemporary art.
Tribal art market expands beyond its traditional selling boundaries
27 May 2019The market for tribal art covering works from Africa, Oceania and the Americas has a global reach these days. While particular centres form cultural and commercial hubs (New York, Paris and Brussels in particular), you can find fairs and shows, shops and auctions around the world. Recent sale highlights and previews from some of the upcoming auctions and fairs are featured here.
Stamp denotes Parisian origin
29 April 2019This highly elaborate chest of drawers decorated in boulle marquetry technique with a variety of different figural and foliate motifs featured in the furniture session of a sale at Hampel (29.5% buyer’s premium) in Munich on March 28.
Russian collectors likely to keep an eye on Roubaud
29 April 2019The painter Franz Roubaud (1856-1928) was born in Odessa of French parents and studied painting at the local academy and for several years in Munich. He made a name for himself with huge panoramic paintings and battle scenes.
Cologne saleroom offers 115 bronze mortars from collection
29 April 2019On May 17, Cologne auction house Lempertz is selling 115 bronze mortars from the 8th-18th centuries.
Raise a glass to a Mozart note
29 April 2019Short message to a ‘true friend’ after opera debut appearance sells at Berlin auction house.
Marvellous Meissen collection includes Kaendler cockerel
29 April 2019It is thought that the prestigious Meissen designer Johann Joachim Kaendler drew the inspiration for his teapot in the form of a reclining cockerel from a Chinese model he found in the royal collection in Dresden.
Blunt portrayals bring sharp bidding in Munich
29 April 2019The German artist Heinrich Zille (1858-1929) was known for his caricatures and humorous and sometimes very blunt portrayals of the lower classes and demi-monde in Berlin around the beginning of the 20th century: his so-called milieu-studies.
Madonna and Minerva sculptures stand out in Vienna sale
29 April 2019Two highly different examples of sculptural art caused the greatest stir at the sale of works of art at Kinsky (25% buyer’s premium) in Vienna on April 8-10. First up was the 3ft 5in (1.05m) high lime-wood sculpture of the Madonna with Child, flanked by two angels.
Traditional Russian drinking vessel served up at auction
29 April 2019Russian works of art are coming up for sale at Dr Fischer in Heilbronn on May 17.
Casket was born in Bethlehem
29 April 2019The extensive spring sale at Schuler (20/18.6/16.6% buyer’s premium) in Zurich lasted from March 18-22. The results were as varied as the works of art on offer.
Napoleon bronze commands high price in Zurich auction
29 April 2019The biggest surprise at the sale of works of art at Koller (25/22/15% buyer’s premium) in Zurich on March 28 was the result for a bronze figure by Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier (1815-91).
Watch takes inspiration from play that became an opera
29 April 2019The chain of artistic influences that led to the decoration of a gold-enamel watch made by John Kenable of Frith Street in London in c.1800 can be traced back to 1766.
Flintlock pistols marked London hail from the Balkans
29 April 2019The inscription London on the barrels of this pair of 19th century, silver-mounted flintlock pistols is entirely spurious.
Lucie Rie bowl among strong selection of modern British ceramics
29 April 2019Modern British ceramics are rarely offered by German auction houses. Among the notable exceptions is the Kunst & Design Auktionshaus Schops Turowski, based in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia.