Christie's

A painting created by artificial intelligence and a table from a castle that featured in Harry Potter are among our five previews from upcoming sales this week.

The biannual series of Islamic and Indian art auctions held in April and October offers a wide range of art and artefacts celebrating the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the Middle East and the subcontinent. This year’s ‘Islamic Week’, running from October 22-26, includes sales from five auction houses, highlights of which are pictured below.

An archive of letters by leading studio pottery maker Bernard Leach (1887-1979) has been bought at auction by a museum which holds the largest collection of his material in the country.

An investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has found that a Christie’s auction advert was ‘misleading’ in relation to the notification of fees such as buyer’s premium.

Auction house Christie’s is to auction Albert Einstein’s God Letter – his correspondence to philosopher Erik Gutkind written a year before his death in 1954.

There will be a new face leading the French operation at Christie’s auction house next summer.

A 3000-year-old Assyrian relief unearthed from the royal palace at Nimrud will be offered at Christie’s New York on October 31. It is expected to exceed $10m.

Christie’s is staging a stand-alone sale of works from Rugby School in December. The 200 lots are expected to raise around £3m.

Christie’s are offering what they claim is the most important work by Edward Hopper (1882-1967) remaining in private hands. ‘Chop Suey’ from 1929 will be estimated in the region of $70m when it appears at auction later this year.

Auctioneers from Christie’s, Chiswick Auctions, Dreweatts and Brettells will take part in this year’s NAVA Propertymark Novice Auctioneer of the Year competition.

There are signs of renewed interest for the decorative arts – from furniture to ‘Kunstkammer’ cabinets of curiosities – according to Christie’s executive Dirk Boll.

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism is postponing the unveiling of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ at The Louvre Abu Dhabi.

An extraordinarily rare artwork by pre-eminent Chinese scholar Su Shi (1037-1101) will be offered at Christie’s Hong Kong later this year. The auctioneers are hoping that it could make a record for any Asian work of art.