International

Lawrence B. Salander, the embattled Manhattan art dealer, has filed for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy protection citing debts of between $50m and $100m.

DATE changes for Arts of Pacific Asia at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue mean the event effectively launches the 2008 New York Spring Asia Week.

When the last of the 823 lots in the sale of the contents Ariane Dandois’ Gallery on the Faubourg St Honoré in Paris was hammered down by Sotheby’s on October 26, it provided a $32.2m (£16.9m) grand finale to a month of sales devoted to traditional areas of the decorative arts in New York.

Leading Florida auction business Arthur James Galleries of Delray Beach is for sale.

A private San Francisco bank has emerged as one of the largest creditors of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries.

Auction houses and antiques malls in the United States are reporting a surge in overseas buying on the internet thanks to the weak dollar.

FRENCH auctioneers are to hold their next open weekend of events on November 17-18.

Art dealer Andrew Sim has sold a watercolour by Richard Dadd (1817-1886) to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. It is the first work by the enigmatic Victorian artist to enter the museum’s vast art collection.

New York Old Master dealers Salander-O’Reilly are expected to file for bankruptcy after a state judge ordered their gallery to be closed indefinitely.

Sotheby’s have posted their highest price in Paris since the French auction market was opened to foreign firms in 2001.

Whitfield Fine Art pull out as Salander-O’Reilly’s multi-million dollar legal problems escalate

THE French government are so concerned about their dwindling share of the global art market that they have come up with a four-point plan to rescue it. They include a measure that effectively calls for the scrapping of due diligence for auctioneers.

Two January fairs run by Stella Show Management in New York are under threat from construction problems and the occupation of an armory building by the National Guard.

A delegation of 17 members of the Syndicat National des Maison de Ventes Voluntaires (SyMEV, the main body representing French auctioneers) was in England last week for a three-day study tour investigating different aspects of the UK market.

Provincial auctioneer’s novel twist for breaking into the American market

Antiquorum, the world’s leading watch auctioneers, insist it will be “business as usual” following the shock departure this August of the Geneva firm’s charismatic founder, Osvaldo Patrizzi, after a row with Japanese owners Artist House Holdings, who acquired Antiquorum for a reported $30m in 2006.

What price one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy? On December 10, Sotheby’s New York will offer for sale one of just 17 surviving 13th century copies of Magna Carta.

WE have heard a lot about antiques being out of fashion, and the best reply is that if antiques are presented stylishly they are always in fashion. Just look at a window of upmarket Fifth Avenue Manhattan store Saks during New York’s Fashion Week. The chief window designer of Saks called on East 61 St dealers Historical Design and said he had the idea of introducing Saks’ new shoe floor with high fashion shoes displayed on vintage chairs.

Shanghai seems all the rage these days. Hot on the heels of the launch of two new international fairs — ShContemporary in early September, and the Shanghai Antiques & Jewellery Fair (October 13-21) — Artcurial are opening premises on Yongjia Lu, in the French Concession district of Shanghai, to stage lectures and exhibitions, as well as hosting an art bookshop — much along the lines of the firm’s Paris HQ at the Hôtel Dassault on the Champs-Elysées.

DATES for the launch of The Beijing International Chinese Antique Fair have been moved to November 30-December 4 from November 28 to December 2 as initially announced. This is described as an important Government project and, as such, special services for exhibitors and visitors are being arranged.