Latest News Articles by Laura Chesters
New chief of Met’s art and antiques squad calls on trade to work with police to fight crime – video
06 March 2018Det Sgt Rob Upham, the new chief of the Metropolitan Police’s Art & Antiques Unit, has called on the trade to work with his team to help protect the art and antiques sector.
Record breaker? Rare Chinese gold-pink Kangxi bowl comes to auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong
06 March 2018A rare Kangxi bowl coming onto the market for the first time in 30 years could test the auction record for Chinese ceramics.
London art dealer named in a $50m New York money laundering case involving Picasso painting
05 March 2018A London art dealer has been named in a $50m securities fraud and money-laundering court case in New York following a sting led by an undercover FBI agent.
Birth of art photography: A selection of early Victorian photographs come to auction as the National Portrait Gallery unveils new exhibition
05 March 2018Work by ground-breaking Victorian photographers Julia Margaret Cameron, Oscar Rejlander and Lewis Carroll will be offered at auction this week in Gloucestershire.
Old Master sleeper wakes in Oxfordshire bidding battle
05 March 2018An Old Master painting hung in the spare bedroom of a family home in Oxfordshire sold for a surprise £440,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Holloway’s of Banbury.
New head of the Met’s art squad, Rob Upham, discusses thefts, fakes, looted art and future plans
05 March 2018Last year there were fears the Metropolitan Police’s Art & Antiques Unit would be closed after two of its members were seconded to the Grenfell Tower fire enquiry. However, in December the team was reunited and a new boss Det Sgt Rob Upham, with 23 years’ experience in the Met, was brought in to lead the team. ATG caught up with him recently.
Sotheby’s hails ‘improving art market’ in latest results
05 March 2018Private sales and Asian buyers helped Sotheby’s report a 12% jump in sales last year to $5.5bn (£4bn).
Brexit and the ivory consultation in focus at valuation conference at RICS
02 March 2018The impact on the art market of Brexit, the ivory consultation and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) were the focus for art and antiques specialists attending the RICS Valuation Conference yesterday.
Sotheby’s posts strong full year results as sales hit $5.5bn
01 March 2018Sotheby’s reported a 12% jump in sales last year to $5.5bn (£4bn). The US-listed auction house said profit, or adjusted net income, improved by 22% from $99.6m to $121.7m in 2017, boosted by an increase in commission and fees.
Messum's launches online shop for more affordable works
28 February 2018Art dealership Messum’s in Cork Street in Mayfair has launched a shop from its website.
From fifties fashion to Churchill: photographs by Elsbeth Juda go up for sale in London
28 February 2018The Jewish Museum has opened a retrospective of the late British photographer Elsbeth Juda, a Jewish émigré who brought a new modernist artistic vision to Britain from Germany.
Harry Potter and All Creatures Great and Small actor Robert Hardy’s art and antiques collection comes to auction in Gloucestershire
28 February 2018Sir Winston Churchill stetson and a name plaque from the door of the vet Siegfried Farnon from ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ are among the lots to be offered at auction from the estate of Robert Hardy (1925-2017) at Dominic Winter Auctioneers.
Beatrix Potter letters on farming advice sell for £10,000
27 February 2018Rare letters written by children’s author Beatrix Potter just nine months before she died have sold at auction in Maidenhead.
A Spider-Man comic cover has set a new record at auction in Dallas
27 February 2018A Marvel 1971 cover of Amazing Spider-Man #100 sold at a premium-inclusive $478,000 (£340,600) at Heritage Auctions in Dallas.
Stolen Degas painting found on a bus near Paris eight years after art theft
26 February 2018Edgar Degas’ impressionist picture ‘Les Choristes’ (The Chorus Singers) was stolen while it was on loan to The Musée Cantini in Marseille in 2009 from Musee d'Orsay in Paris.
Axing import VAT is ‘achievable’
26 February 2018BAMF chairman and new chief executive address LAPADA conference
Hornby owner buys stake in Stanley Gibbons Group to help reduce debt
23 February 2018Stamp and coin dealership Stanley Gibbons Group has sold a stake to the owner of model railway and collectables retailer Hornby to help pay down debt.
Handbags at dawn: Dispute between Christie’s and Heritage Auctions over three handbag specialists heads to US court
23 February 2018A dispute between Dallas-based Heritage Auctions and Christie’s over the employment of Matthew Rubinger and two colleagues is heading to a US court.
Government issues export bar for John Martin watercolour in hope of finding UK buyer
22 February 2018A £1.5m watercolour by British artist John Martin has been barred from export in the hope a buyer in the UK can be found.