Europe

On May 8, Neumeister (30% buyer’s premium) in Munich sold the collection of Hans Constantin Faussner, a Bavarian lawyer and art collector.

A monumental painting of a fish market soared to unexpected heights at the May 16 auction at Lempertz (26% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.

June 2, 1878, began as a normal day in the varied life of the German artist Adolph von Menzel.

This recently discovered example of the iconic Bauhaus tea-infuser, designed by Marianne Brandt in 1924, on offer at Lempertz on May 15 for €200,000, was knocked down to the Hamburg Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum for Art and Industry) for €260,000 (£222,220).

Art in Germany might be about to get a bit cheaper with the German government confirming it will cut the VAT on art sales from 19% to 7% in line with its import VAT.

Tristram Hillier (1905-83) described the Surrealist pictures he created at Étretat, the picturesque town on the north-western coast of France, as “some of the best I have ever made”.

If proof were needed that regional British clockmakers were as capable of making impressive works as those of London colleagues, then an 18th century longcase clock being sold by Metz on July 19-20 in Heidelberg without reserve, provides it.

Moses automaton watch is one of the stand-out hammer highlights in recent sales

Police in the Netherlands have confirmed they have recovered two more diamonds stolen by armed robbers from The European Art Fair (TEFAF) in 2022.

According to the engraved plaque, this Russian silver cycling trophy, offered by Antiqon (25% buyer’s premium) in Riga, Latvia, on May 18, was presented by Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich to the best cyclist in northern Russia and champion of the Tour of St Michaels.

The Memphis Miliano design movement was born on the evening of December 11, 1980, when architect-designer Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) invited young creators and architects to discuss the future of Italian ‘post-modern’ design.

A world atlas produced by a Dublin-born man who is considered the first US commercial publisher made its way to the Irish capital to be sold at auction house Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium).

Although the image may be familiar from stereoscopic photographs and engravings of the period, this view of the 1862 'London International Exhibition of Industry and Art' is an oil and canvas by the Italian painter Federico Moja (1802-85).

Focus on first part of a series of porcelain sales offering businessman’s collection