US

Dallas-based Heritage Auctions say 2012 was their best year to date, with total sales of more than $860m.

Sotheby’s Institute of Art are to partner Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles to offer a new Master’s degree in Art Business.

A rare Holtzapffel & Company rose engine lathe turned a few heads at Skinner’s recent Science, Technology and Clocks sale to take $190,000 (£124,185) as the top lot of the day.

This elaborately cased Breguet quarter-striking clock mounted with a half quarter striking gold watch has beaten its own record as the highest-priced clock ever sold at auction.

While the UK art and antiques scene almost grinds to a halt over Christmas and January, Miami truly comes alive.

A 1928 movie poster of Mickey Mouse, thought to be the earliest surviving poster of the Walt Disney character, has fetched $85,000 (£56,000) at auction in Dallas, Texas.

The global art market moves firmly to North America in the New Year – first to New York for the series of events that have grown up around the venerable ‘Winter Antiques Show’ (January 25-February 3) and then to Florida for warmer climes and the ‘Original Miami Beach Show’ (January 31-February 4).

Designed for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, a 1928 poster by Cassandre (1901-68) sold at Swann Auction Galleries of New York for what is believed to be a record for the sought-after poster designer at auction.

The 20th/21st Century Design sale at Rago Arts of Lambertville, New Jersey on October 26-28 included this exceptional enamel by Alexander Fisher (1864-1936).

A recent court case in New York has reinforced the importance of the often overlooked issue of artists’ moral rights.

The Florida organisers International Fine Art Expositions (IFAE) have teamed up with the French dealer association Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA), organisers of the Paris Biennale, to launch a Miami fair in 2014.

Spink have announced a series of developments aimed at reinforcing the company’s global standing with a particular emphasis on New York.

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam has acquired an important collection of letters, photos and documents relating to Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank.

The Contemporary art market rose to a new level last week as both Sotheby’s and Christie’s saw record sales in New York.

Making the most amount of money ever seen for a Contemporary art auction, Christie’s evening sale on November 14 made a staggering $363.5m (£237.6m) hammer.

The latest Impressionist & Modern Art sales in New York saw generally selective demand as bidding failed to take off on a large proportion of the works on offer.

The art and antiques trade in North East America and Canada is returning to business as usual following the interruption caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Debate has long surrounded the well-known portrait of composer Johann Sebastian Bach by German court painter and official Leipzig portraitist Elias Gottlob Haussmann (1695-1774).

Chicago saleroom Leslie Hindman will hold a single-owner auction of property from a major Midwest estate on November 8.

Christie’s have joined auctioneers William J. Jenack in a bid to overturn a legal ruling that says New York salerooms must reveal consignors’ names to buyers.