Fine Art

A couple of headline lots, a scattering of rare and unusual pictures and one of the most valuable consignments of prints ever offered lifted the latest series of Old Master auctions in London.

It is the final months of the major exhibition of Marc Chagall (1887- 1985) works at Alon Zakaim, where visitors can expect to see lovers floating through the sky with the occasional goat in the tradition of many of the artist’s most recognisable works.

A design for a swan-shaped pendant suspended by a gracefully curved neck and bearing a scene of two more swans is among the highlights at an exhibition on the drawings and sketches of René Lalique (1860-1945).

An eastern European picture that commanded bidding at a recent UK regional auction was a trademark painting by Polish artist Jan Lebenstein (1930-99).

Works by the Turkish artist Mubin Orhon (1924-81) can be a valuable proposition.

Pictured here are two paintings by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) appearing on the French auction scene this season within the space of a month - one sold, the other upcoming.

Dealer Peter Harrison has sold a recently reidentified portrait by 17th century painter Mary Beale (1633-99) to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

It is often said that the mark of a good illustrator is that their work is instantly recognisable.

Christina Jansen is managing director of The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, which was established in 1842. She started in the applied arts department before working her way up to run the gallery in 2016. On show at the gallery now are several Contemporary exhibitions running until December 23 including The Miniaturist Gallery (more below) and a selection of pictures by Victoria Crowe.

Collection from unnamed vendor supplies some of the highest prices in a sale at the Drouot centre

Some notable auction action has been generated by the artist Robert Polhill Bevan (1865-1925) over the last few months.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Cast-iron provenances and first appearances on the market combine to boost value in a Cornish saleroom

From 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' to 'The Last Duel', films nearly always depict the Middle Ages as dark, dingy and beset by bad weather.

'Landscape and Figures' by Archibald McGlashan (1888-1980) is among the highlights at Ottocento’s Modern British art exhibition.

An album of watercolour studies of Ottoman ceramics that connects two of the British collectors of the early 20th century raced away from its estimate at Dominic Winter in Gloucestershire.

Although this small oil sketch that surfaced at Oxio Paris (24% buyer’s premium) in Saint-Ouen on November 19 was catalogued as by ‘Howard Hancock’, the signature is clearly that of David Howard Hitchcock (1861-1943).