North America

A $160m (£136m) masterpiece by Dutch-American abstract-impressionist painter Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) that had been stolen from a US museum 30 years ago has been discovered in an antiques shop.

Works from pioneering photography collector Paul F Walter will be auctioned at Christie’s next month.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has consigned a series of photographs to Christie’s which will be offered at auctions over the next 18 months.

Mayfair art agent Timothy Sammons is facing a fresh legal battle over the sale of paintings and could face extradition to the US.

Five antiquities dealers were arrested by Israeli police in Jerusalem last week in connection with items that were illegally imported into the US by the arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby.

Sotheby’s revenues for the second quarter of 2017 rose 5% but its profit fell 14% to $76.9m due to a rise in expenses and a decline at its financial services arm.

A record for a Casablanca movie poster was made last week when an Italian example sold for a premium-inclusive $478,000 (£361,800).

Two New York antiques dealers, owners of an upmarket Manhattan antiques shop, yesterday pleaded guilty to selling modern ivory objects and uncarved elephant tusks worth more than $4.5m.

In an August 2016 ATG wrote that the scrimshaw market had been in the doldrums but was showing signs of a return to buoyancy. Judging by the latest results from Massachusetts auction house Eldred’s, bidders are certainly prepared to push the boat out for the best examples.

Los Angeles’ J Paul Getty Museum has bought 16 Old Master drawings in its largest-ever purchase by value.