International

FRANCE: New auction premises were inaugurated by Lelièvre-Maiche-Paris in Chartres, 55 miles south-west of Paris, at the start of September. Architect Philippe Redreau’s futuristic, hi-tech building, painted black to emphasize its sleek outlines, is situated in the suburb of Le Coudray, just off the Chartres rocade (ring-road) two miles south-west of the town centre.

USA: THE EVENTS of September 11 in New York had repercussions well beyond the city and its environs as antiques and collectables became a low priority for most Americans. Although most fairs did go ahead, a number were postoned or cancelled in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks and the effects on show schedules could stretch well into October and beyond.

CHRISTOPHER Elwes, former managing director of Bonhams, and Indian art expert Patrick Bowring have broken new ground by opening India’s only specialist fine art auction house. They will hold their first sale in Delhi on November 5 and aim to create a network of offices to service the Indian market.

USA: As Sotheby’s scale down their operations in the American Midwest, the possiblity of a new auction powerhouse in the region has emerged as a group of investors seek to gain control of both Dargate Auction Rooms of Pittsburgh and the Cleveland-based eWolfs.

IN the wake of the September 11 Manhattan tragedy there have been changes to the auction calendar in New York and some fairs may be affected. These changes will be updated as soon as we are aware of further postponements and cancellations. Last updated 19 Sept.

USA: Sotheby’s is likely to cease all sales at its branch in Chicago after November 1. Around 19 of the office’s 31 employees will lose their jobs as Sotheby’s closes the auction house they bought from Leslie Hindman in 1997 and reverts to running just a consignment office in the Midwest capital.

FRANCE: Etude Tajan, France’s premier commissaires-priseurs, are to be known from now on as just plain TAJAN. The firm, run by Jacques Tajan and his son François, has been known as Etude Tajan since Jacques Tajan went independent from former partner Antoine Ader in 1995.

DENMARK: IN September last year, Copenhagen auctioneers Museumsbygningen (25% buyer’s premium) created a stir by achieving DKr1,000,000 (£85,470) for an oil study of a nude by Wilhelm Marstrand (1810-1873) dating from January 3, 1833, the day on which Professor C.F. Eckersberg and five pupils made the first ever paintings of a female life model at the Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

A ‘LOST’ painting by the great 17th century French painter Nicolas Poussin has come to light and will be offered for sale by Galerie Koller in Zurich on October 5.

TOP German dealer Konrad Bernheimer, who has galleries in Munich and London, is the driving force behind a new international, prestige fair at the Haus der Kunst, Munich scheduled for a 2003 launch.

USA: WHEN Henry Koerner’s (1915-1991) oil on board Playing Pretend (21 x 2ft 1in) was offered on home soil at Dargate’s July 10-14 sale in Pittsburgh it made a substantial price, especially as the subject matter, impish children stuck in contorted poses, was commonly visited by the artist and is his most highly rated work.

A New York judge has set the date for the start of the trial of Sir Anthony Tennant and Alfred Taubman on price fixing charges.

ANOTHER New York City fair will be inaugurated this autumn when The Connoisseur’s Antiques Fair is launched by veteran New York organiser Sanford Smith at the 69th Regiment Armory, Lexington Avenue and 26th Street, from November 16 to 19.

The annual Hong-Kong coin sale presided over by Baldwin-Ma-Gillio-Monetarium is always a big draw. This one, number 33, including the semi-annual sales at Singapore, is scheduled for August 30.

A DISPUTE over rent and refurbishment could spell the end of ewolfs.com, the Ohio-based online auction house, who have shed 20 of their 24 staff and shut down temporarily in the crisis.

USA: Christie’s New York are relocating and restructuring a number of their departments in preparation for the assimilation of Christie’s East into the company’s Rockefeller headquarters.

US-based Ableauctions have made an offer to acquire fellow online auctions firm ICollector in a share swap deal that values ICollector at £9.8m ($13.9m).

AMONG the earlier travel books in the June 14 sale held by Pacific Book Auctions was a 1632 first edition of Bernal Diaz del Castillo’s famous first-hand account of the conquest of Mexico, Historia Verdadera de la Conquesta de la Nueva-España. An ex-Nottingham Free Library copy in a 20th century quarter morocco binding, it had stamps to the title and other pages and a few other shortcomings of condition, but it is an important work and sold at $5000 (£3625).

Some 15 years ago figurative painter Claudia Williams (born 1933) and her husband, artist Gwilym Prichard, left North Wales to settle in France. It was not long before they made their mark on the French art scene, their work being represented in many shows and each being awarded the Silver Medal by the Academy of Arts, Science and Letters, Paris in 1995.

ANY aspirant outlaw should know that in order to ensure a special place in folk tradition it is no good just killing and robbing, you have to acquire an idiosyncrasy or two that will add gloss to the flyposters and newspaper reports, and keep storytellers exciting children for generations to come.