2016

South African auction house Strauss & Co have made a number of appointments to its board in the wake of the death of founding managing director, Stephan Welz at the end of last year.

More than 25,160 visitors attended the 44th annual Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia which concluded its seven day run yesterday.

The Contemporary art sales in London last week saw a reduced supply of major works affect the overall totals which came in at their lowest levels since 2013. However, the material on offer generally met with decent demand and fears of a Brexit meltdown in the market did not materialise.

The rising tide of regulation against ivory, and the consequent threat to the trade in antiques, was a principal subject of debate at last month’s CINOA conference in Paris.

The latest themed auction held by Christie’s was their ‘Defining British Art’ evening sale in London. View ATG’s selection of 10 highlights here.

Masterpiece London opened this week at the Royal Hospital Chelsea amid continuing speculation over the effects of Brexit on the art market.

This late medieval repoussé medal depicting ‘The Emperor Heraclius’s Return of the True Cross to Jerusalem’ proved the highlight of the Sir Timothy Clifford collection of Renaissance and Baroque medals sold by Morton & Eden in London.

A series of blue-chip consignments from different sectors of the market helped Christie’s ‘Defining British Art’ evening sale in London last night to a £99.5m total including premium. The auction offered paintings by major names including Joshua Reynolds, John Constable, Stanley Spencer, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon but it was a Henry Moore sculpture that led proceedings, selling at £22m.

Crowning the white-glove success of Japanese works from the Portier collection in Paris was the sale of this signature portrait print by Kitagawa Utamaro for €600,000 (£500,000).

BADA have joined with the Federation of Small Business (FSB) to research how much art and antique dealers are helped by the government’s proposed rate relief on properties – if at all.

A number of St James’s dealers have chosen to relocate their premises in the face of extensive refurbishment plans on the part of Crown Estates.

Wellers Fine Art Ltd will continue to hold monthly sales of jewellery and watches in Guildford, despite the liquidation of a separate commercial operation.

A dispute has erupted between fair organisers in Florida over a new event being launched in Palm Beach next January.

Two paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) consigned to auction by the actor Johnny Depp sold for a combined £7.6m at Christie’s evening sale of post-war and Contemporary art last night.

The seventh edition of Masterpiece London opens its preview today with 154 dealers bringing a wide selection of desirable and big-ticket items. Here is ATG’s pick of 10 works on offer around the stands.

Calls for greater transparency in the way German institutions deal with Nazi-looted art should be extended to the country’s art and antiques trade, the Commission for Looted Art in Europe has said.

Fears that the Brexit vote would seriously impact the art market were partially allayed last night as Sotheby’s Contemporary art sale delivered robust results.

The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair at Battersea will be joined by the London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair (LARTA) in January 2017.

The Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia is the longest-running of the three major London summer fairs. Here are a few views of the fair captured during ATG's visit to the preview of the event now celebrating its 44th year.