Impressionist and Modern Art

Their backgrounds might have made them strange bedfellows: Edgar Degas (1834-1917), the lawyer turned publicity-shy painter and printmaker, and Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), the sculptor from a working-class background who achieved fame with his large, often controversial works.

Art by a pair of 20th century artists who actively avoided belonging to any artistic school or movement stood out in recent US auctions.

A precedent-setting legal dispute over a $10m (£7.2m) fee relating to the 2014 sale of a $210m Paul Gauguin painting has been won by auctioneer turned art adviser Simon de Pury.

Jill Newhouse, a New York dealer with a gallery on East 81st Street, is a veteran of Master Drawings New York, having taken part for many years.

London is to host a viewing of a small oil painting by Paul Cézanne ahead of its sale in the US.

The picture dealer element of BRAFA is substantial, but increasingly these days the emphasis is on works from the 19th century onwards, be they Impressionist and modern or post-war and contemporary art.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the London Art Fair (LAF), which has grown from 30 UK exhibitors in its first edition to its current 131-strong international line-up. They will fill the floor at Islington’s Business Design Centre from January 17-21.

The market for works by Ernst Wilhelm Nay (1902-68) was pushed into a new dimension at recent German auctions.

The potential star of the show at the sale of Selected Works held by Grisebach (25% buyer’s premium) in Berlin on November 30 lived up to its expectations.

Despite its current high profile, commercial interest in Soviet-era art remains selective. With the centenary of the Russian Revolution and anniversary exhibitions at the Royal Academy and Tate Modern, the latest series of Russian sales in London had aimed to cash in on the focus on this sector.