International

About 80% of the global art market by value takes place outside the UK. The largest art market in the world is the US with China in third place (after the UK) followed by France, Germany and Switzerland.

Many more nations have a rich art and antiques heritage with active auction, dealer, fair, gallery and museum sectors even if their market size by value is smaller.

Read the top stories and latest art and antiques news from all these countries.

Christie’s to appeal over resale right ruling

10 April 2017

Christie’s is to appeal last month’s French court ruling that declared Droit de Suite is a charge on the vendor rather than the buyer.

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Meiji incense burner is €12,000 (£10,435) Dusseldorf auction buy

10 April 2017

Numerous bidders competed for a5½in (14cm) high Japanese incense burner from the Meiji period (1868-1912) at a sale held by Hargesheimer (25% buyer’s premium) in Dusseldorf on March 10-11.

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Four-star sword for military showman Patton

10 April 2017

One thing you could never accuse General George S Patton of was being shy. Not that top military men are exactly shrinking violets but even so, Patton is renowned as particularly bombastic. He fits perfectly into the type of American general in the Custer and MacArthur mould, happy to blow their own trumpets.

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Views of a vanished world wow at auction in Paris

10 April 2017

Published in New York in 1977, The Vanished World Portfolio is a selection of a dozen photographs from the very many that were taken in the late 1930s in Cracow, Warsaw, the Carpathian regions and elsewhere in eastern Europe by Roman Vishniac (1897-1990).

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American Arctic exploration classic up at New York auction

10 April 2017

The Arctic Regions, 1873, a sumptuously bound narrative of American artist William Bradford’s seven expeditions to the Arctic, illustrated with 141 mounted albumen photographs, is the highest-estimated lot in the April 20 Swann Galleries photographs and photobooks sale.

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Famous fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen's jester amuses at auction

10 April 2017

Hans Christian Andersen did not confine himself to the fairy tales that are his principal and lasting legacy.

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High-quality paper made in France aids in identification of charcoal drawing sold in Dresden

10 April 2017

A French Old Master drawing, a 20th century work by a specialist animal painter and an American Abstract Expressionist work were among the pictures that have performed strongly in auctions across the German regions and in Austria recently.

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Russian medal marking victory over Persia sold at auction

10 April 2017

A 50 ducat medal commemorating the end of the Russo-Persian war was worth far more than its weight in gold at Künker (23% buyer’s premium) in Osnabruck in the March 13-17 sale.

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Daniel Quare barometer heats up Austrian auction

10 April 2017

Daniel Quare (1648-1724) is primarily known as a clock and watchmaker. He was, however, also an accomplished maker of portable barometers, one of which came up for sale at Dorotheum (25/22/15% buyer’s premium) in Vienna on March 29.

Ming bowl

Exceptional Ming ‘fish pond’ bowl sells for more than £22m at auction in Hong Kong

05 April 2017

An exceptional Xuande mark and period ‘fish pond’ bowl, trumpeted by Sotheby’s as among the greatest examples of early Ming blue and white porcelain in private hands, sold in Hong Kong for HK$229m (£22.9m) on April 4.

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Rodin turns heads in Paris and Pau

05 April 2017

With this year marking the centenary of the sculptor’s death, Auguste Rodin is much in the news. While the Grand Palais in Paris is marking the event with a major exhibition, Fraysse et Associés sold a 2ft 1in (64cm) high lifetime cast bronze figural group for €1.55m (£1.35m) at Drouot on March 22.

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A 3-D van Gogh fit for the people

05 April 2017

Technology has replicated the Dutch master’s work in a move the artist might have welcomed.

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Beardsley shows his devilish side at auction

05 April 2017

It may have been under 2in (5cm) high, but a tiny ink drawing by Aubrey Beardsley sold for a sizeable $10,000 (£8000) in a sale of Illustration Art held by Swann (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) in New York on March 21.

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International previews: Madrid

05 April 2017

The Flemish Baroque painter Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678) studied the works, and particularly the mythological scenes, of the Italian masters.

Droit de suite: Court says seller must pay levy

05 April 2017

The way Droit de Suite is applied in France was affirmed by a French court ruling last month.

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Biographies of females famous and forgotten

05 April 2017

Filling much of a full-page advertisement in ATG No 2284 for the Pierre Bergé/Sotheby’s (24/20.5/17% buyer’s premium) sale in Paris on April 26 of books and manuscripts from the library of Jean A Bonna was the star turn – a stunning copy of Galileo’s Discorsi et Dimostrazioni matematiche of 1638.

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Engraving speciality: a late 17th century goblet

05 April 2017

For many centuries the German city of Nuremberg was a major centre for glass decoration.

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Obituary: Rudolf Neumeister (1925-2017)

05 April 2017

Rudolf Neumeister, one of Germany’s longest serving auctioneers, passed away on February 23 at the age of 91.

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Remainer makes his own Brexit to the Netherlands

05 April 2017

Some people who voted Remain at the EU Referendum last year have been dismayed at the Brexit outcome and have dreaded the triggering of Article 50, formally notifying the EU of the UK’s intention to withdraw.

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Let there be all kinds of light - German hammer highlights

05 April 2017

From minimalist lamp to starry chandelier

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