Fine Art

Fine art is a staple of the dealing and auctioneering industry, featuring works ranging from Medieval art to traditional Old Masters, and right through to cutting-edge Contemporary art.

While oil paintings represent a large part of the sector, other mediums adopted by artists across the ages include drawings, watercolours, prints and photographs.

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Gainsborough sketch surfaces in Ruislip

15 June 2015

Auctioneers Bainbridges of Ruislip are selling a chalk and gouache drawing attributed to Thomas Gainsborough.

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De Heem returns home via Van Haeften

12 June 2015

This still life by Dutch artist Cornelis de Heem (1631-95) has been returned to its historical home, The National Trust’s Dyrham Park in Gloucestershire. The painting was bought through London dealer Johnny Van Haeften for £574,000.

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Still life by Vienna Secessionist in West Sussex

09 June 2015

An oil on panel by Franz Sedlacek (1891-1945), one of Austria’s most prominent artists during the 1920s and ‘30s, will be offered in West Sussex auctioneers Toovey’s sale.

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Ashmolean launches campaign to secure Turner’s view of Oxford

05 June 2015

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has launched a public campaign to raise the funds needed to secure JMW Turner's The High Street, Oxford.

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Liebermann restituted from Gurlitt cache comes to auction

04 June 2015

Max Liebermann’s ‘Zwei Reiter am Strand nach links’ (Two Riders on a Beach) has become the first painting to be sold from Cornelius Gurlitt’s hoard of art.

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Newly discovered Thomas Girtin watercolour of London knocked down at £125,000

02 June 2015

Found in the attic of a large Welsh house, this watercolour by Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) of St Paul’s Cathedral drew dramatic competition at Chorley’s sale in Gloucestershire.

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Elephant hopes rest on Rego

21 May 2015

This print ‘Unhappy Courtship’ by Dame Paula Rego (b.1935) is estimated at £2000-3000 at a charity sale being conducted by Roseberys.

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Christie’s billion dollar week of sales as Contemporary art market inflates further

14 May 2015

Christie’s evening sale of post-war and Contemporary art last night posted a premium-inclusive total of $658.5m (£445m) as the bumper fortnight of auctions continued in New York.

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Rothko heads Sotheby’s contemporary art sale in New York

13 May 2015

Mark Rothko’s 'Untitled (Yellow and Blue)' led Sotheby’s sale of Contemporary art in New York last night.

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Picasso sets all-time auction record as Giacometti reaches new high for sculpture

12 May 2015

A new high for any work of art sold at auction came at Christie’s New York last night as Pablo Picasso’s ‘Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)’ sold at $160m (£108.1m).

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Soldani bronze brings £320,000

29 April 2015

This Italian baroque bronze depicting ‘Ganymede and the Eagle’ by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi (1656-1740) proved the highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s recent sale in Edinburgh.

Insurance for conceptual art

28 April 2015

US insurance firms Crystal & Co and AIG Private Client Group are working together to create a new product for owners of conceptual art.

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Paul Nash leads Modern British art selection at Cottees

17 April 2015

Dorset auctioneers Cottees ventured into the Modern Art market with their latest sale featuring works by the likes of Paul Nash, Fred Yates and Lawrence Durrell.

Christie’s theft – man jailed but no recovery

13 April 2015

A career criminal who stole more than £700,000 worth of Fabergé items and sold them to a crack dealer for just £100 has been jailed for 28 months.

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New show turns spotlight on Kenneth Rowntree

10 April 2015

Dulwich Picture Gallery launched a long overdue show of watercolours by Eric Ravilious (1903-42) last week, an artist unswayed by fashion whose paintings and designs encapsulate the spirit of inter-War England.

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Striking Russian gold in Dorset

25 March 2015

Two large 18th century gold medals depicting events from the reign of Catherine the Great sold for spectacular sums at Duke’s latest auction in Dorchester.

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Philpot portrait from Noël Coward’s collection sets £250,000 record

23 March 2015

This portrait by Glyn Warren Philpot (1884-1937) was the star performer of pictures formerly in Sir Noël Coward’s collection sold at Christie’s South Kensington.

The Ducal Palace, the Zecca and the Campanile with Moored Ships in Foreground, c.1851.

Ruskin’s photo archive returns – in better focus

19 March 2015

One of the most spectacular regional auction finds of the past decade returns to the limelight this week with the publication of a book documenting the history of a cache of early topographical photographs belonging to the Victorian critic, artist and social reformer John Ruskin (1819-1900).

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Space photos star in the saleroom

13 March 2015

“Most of us will never experience space, which explains why space-flown items are in such high demand. Their travels imbue them with an almost mystical aura.”

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The place where the masters still assume centre stage

05 March 2015

Old Master paintings rarely take centre stage over Modern, Impressionist or Contemporary art these days. Yet this most traditional of collecting disciplines remains the soul of TEFAF Maastricht, the umbilical cord to its genesis as the Pictura fair.

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