Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Seven-figure successes help celebrate saleroom 70-year anniversary
19 August 2024This year, Munich auction house Ketterer (32/27/22% buyer’s premium) is marking its 70th anniversary and the evening sale provided plenty of opportunities for celebration.
Sketch sourced from Austrian castle captures Cairo terror in Napoleonic era
19 August 2024Viennese auction house Tiberius (27% buyer’s premium) recently sold the inventory of Laudon Castle, a privately owned, moated baroque residence on the outskirts of the Austrian capital.
Chinese works of art provide lots of reasons to raise a smile
19 August 2024Recent sales show the appetite for Chinese art from bidders with deep pockets is not at all diminished
Cartier catches the mood and big bids at debut Stuttgart sale
19 August 2024Nagel’s (29.5% buyer’s premium) first sale dedicated to Fine Arts and Luxury in Stuttgart obviously caught the mood of the bidders.
Dalí painting was originally bought by Edward James
19 August 2024Instantly recognisable and with a perfect provenance, a painting by Salvador Dalí (1904-89) more than lived up to its expectations at a sale held by Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer (22% buyer’s premium).
Menzel pastel benefits from provenance
12 August 2024In recent years, there has been an upsurge in interest for works by Adolph Menzel (see also ATG No 2649), whose works often go way above the guides and achieve unexpected six-figure prices.
Museum homes in on dolls’ house packed with details
12 August 2024Sometime c.1900, a craftsman or accomplished amateur spent a lot of time building or converting a 6ft 7in (2m) cupboard into a fully fitted dolls’ house.
Works by Swiss artists tempt Swiss collectors
12 August 2024Swiss collectors were in a generous mood at Koller’s (25/22/15% buyer’s premium) recent Zurich auction.
Du Paquier porcelain packs in plenty of interest for bidders
12 August 2024Examples of products by Viennese factory founded 10 years after Meissen prove popular purchases
Drawing result is a surprise even for Klimt in Austria
12 August 2024Works on paper by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) are regularly strong sellers at Austrian auctions, but even so, the result for one of his coloured pencil drawings at a Dorotheum (30/25% buyer’s premium) sale in Vienna was quite a surprise.
Cannon barrels point to date around time of Ottoman invasion and Siege of Vienna
05 August 2024On July 2, Vienna auction house Tiberius (27% buyer’s premium) sold the inventory of Laudon Castle, a privately owned, moated baroque residence on the outskirts of the Austrian capital.
Artist not confirmed but Old Master tells a Florentine family history tale
24 June 2024While the identity of the main artist was up for debate, the impressive ownership of a work sold in Austria was not in doubt
Old Master by unknown painter causes a stir as Bavarian collection comes to auction
24 June 2024On May 8, Neumeister (30% buyer’s premium) in Munich sold the collection of Hans Constantin Faussner, a Bavarian lawyer and art collector.
Bulldog advertising sign lights up the saleroom
24 June 2024It is safe to say that nowadays the image of a smoking dog would find little favour with animal rights activists or for that matter with the current (for now) UK Prime Minister.
Fish market scene catches the eye
24 June 2024A monumental painting of a fish market soared to unexpected heights at the May 16 auction at Lempertz (26% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.
Menzel’s Moroccans became a timely work
24 June 2024June 2, 1878, began as a normal day in the varied life of the German artist Adolph von Menzel.
Highlights: a recent selection of stand-out lots sold at auction
24 June 2024This recently discovered example of the iconic Bauhaus tea-infuser, designed by Marianne Brandt in 1924, on offer at Lempertz on May 15 for €200,000, was knocked down to the Hamburg Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum for Art and Industry) for €260,000 (£222,220).
Prophet and profits of horology auctions held in Germany and Switzerland
17 June 2024Moses automaton watch is one of the stand-out hammer highlights in recent sales
Best of British: Bullock longcase on offer in Heidelberg
17 June 2024If proof were needed that regional British clockmakers were as capable of making impressive works as those of London colleagues, then an 18th century longcase clock being sold by Metz on July 19-20 in Heidelberg without reserve, provides it.
Kirchner steps back into view
11 May 2024For over a century, the whereabouts of the painting Tanz im Varieté (Steptanz) (Vaudeville Dance/Tap Dance) by the Expressionist Ernst Ludig Kirchner were unknown.