Art and antiques news from 2003

The Lunar Men: The Friends Who Made The Future by Jenny Uglow, published by Faber & Faber. ISBN 0571196470 £25 hb

MORE Deco news, this time from Wimbledon organiser Paola Francia-Gardiner who as P&A Antiques is seeing a deal of success with her West London decorative events.

Decorative arts from 1870s Gothic Revival to 1960s Murano glass and everything in between is on offer at Sotheby’s Olympia this month. Their sizeable gathering of over 230 lots, which goes under the hammer on February 27, takes in examples of all the major design movements of the 20th century (and the latter end of the 19th): Art Nouveau, Arts & Crafts, Wiener Werkstätte, Deco and Modernism.

Altfield, who specialise in traditional craftsman-made furniture and objects imported from the Far East, have a well-established mainly trade outlet at the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, but last November, they branched out with a new retail showroom at 320 King’s Road, SW3.

If you still believe that the Cotswolds are merely the final bastion of traditional brown furniture, you should take another look at Moreton-in-Marsh. Just opposite Astley House Fine Art, where David and Nanette Glaisyer have shown Victorian and other traditional pictures for 30 years, is Astley House Contemporary, the airy, two-floor gallery they opened just before Christmas.

When it comes to wall power there is nothing like a poster to add presence and focus to an interior, and for iconic or cult status, a film poster is hard to beat.

Contemporary art continues to outperform many of the more traditional categories of art and antiques, according to a new report by insurers Zurich.

Mallett revealed a 47.6 per cent rise in turnover and a 20 per cent rise in pre-tax profits in 2002, described by chairman George Magan as “one of the most challenging years” in the history of the London dealership.

Scrap it or at least make life easier for the trade, new study demands: THE European Union should look again at the whole issue of Import VAT and art market red tape, say The European Fine Art Foundation.

SOTHEBY’S have announced that they have given up trying to find a buyer for the controlling stake of disgraced former chairman A. Alfred Taubman.

IN the wake of recent reports on credit card fraud emanating from Indonesia, dealer association LAPADA are advising members on how best to protect themselves.

PRIVATE pictures with reasonable estimates proved a recipe for success at Bonhams (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) on February 3 where 75 of the 101 lots found buyers at the £823,130 sale.

IF THERE is one objet d’art that best characterises the antiques market at present it is the curate’s egg – good in parts, but bad overall. The flawed ovum’s brighter regions encompass most low-value collectables – ceramics included.

FOLLOWING the tragic death of John Ball in an accident last year, the future of his auction firm Heathcote Ball has been secured in a deal with Tennants.

European Union rules to combat money laundering due to come into force in June will oblige businesses accepting cash payments of more than €15,000 (£9400) to adopt a raft of new procedures.

AFTER what seems an unending number of complaints about unscrupulous online fair guides charging for unwanted advertising, the Antiques Trade Gazette has now heard about what appears to be a new scam.

SOTHEBY’S have started a new staff review and admit that further redundancies are likely.

Londoners are steeling themselves for the introduction of the daily £5 congestion charge on February 17, introduced by Mayor Ken Livingstone in a bid to reduce traffic and pollution in the capital. The Antiques Trade Gazette has been asking members of the trade what effect it will have on their businesses.

FOLLOWING last week’s Dealers’ Diary report that Bargain Hunt was banned from the Great Northern Antiques and Collectors’ Fair, another organiser says the TV show is not welcome at his event.

A secondhand bookshop in Glasgow and two Yorkshire dealers are celebrating a windfall of several million pounds after settling their dispute over the ownership of a lost cache of William Blake watercolours. The folio of 19 illustrations for Robert Blair’s poem, The Grave, one of the most exciting “finds” in art market history, have been sold through London art dealer Libby Howie, acting on behalf of an anonymous collector, for an estimated £4.9m.