International

EBAY’s legal fortunes continue to seesaw, with a Paris court ordering them to pay 230,000 euros to Louis Vuitton Malletier in costs and damages.

LAPADA are hoping to tap directly into the luxury goods market during a special trade mission to Moscow next month.

BEIJING-based auction house China Guardian has published record sales results for 2009.

FOLLOWING the severe winter weather that has struck the East Coast of the US, Freemans of Philadelphia chose to postpone for a week the sale of the Lehman Brothers Collection Part II.

Faced with the biggest crisis in its history, the Hôtel Drouot, the central Paris auction venue, has announced sweeping changes to how it is run.

John Ward, head of Sotheby’s New York silver department, said it was the piece of American silver that had it all: “Large size, great condition, beautiful design by an idiosyncratic maker, fresh provenance, and a great story.”

INTERNATIONAL Coin Exchange, a new firm of Dublin-based auctioneers, will hold their first sale on February 19.

MAJOR American museums played an active role as both buyers and sellers in the latest Old Master sales in New York.

BLOOMSBURY Auctions and Dreweatts have announced an alliance with Hermann Historica, the German specialist auctioneers in arms, armour and militaria.

IN a year dominated by Christie’s blockbuster 342m euros (£308m) sale of the Bergé/St-Laurent Collection, most Paris auctioneers reported a fall in sales averaging around 20 per cent. There were, however, signs of confidence returning to the market.

DROUOT President Georges Delettrez has announced “strong measures with immediate effect” after nine members of staff at the central Paris saleroom (eight warehousemen and one auctioneer) were charged with “criminal association and organised theft” in early December.

THE London Jewish Museum of Art (the Ben Uri Gallery) have announced that they have purchased a crucifixion by Marc Chagall for what they believe to be a fraction of its real value at a Paris auction.

SCIENTISTS in the United States have unveiled a ground-breaking piece of technology to identify fake pictures.

AN agreement over the disputed Blue Period Picasso painting The Absinthe Drinker may well lead to a clearer legal definition of what constitutes art sold under Nazi duress.

THE recession continues to take a heavy toll on the New York fairs scene and the first casualty of the new year looks set to be the Haughtons' International Fine Art Fair.

WHAT the latest Asian auction series in Hong Kong lacked in terms of headline-grabbing 18th century Imperial blockbusters, it more than made up for in solid performances across the board.

A COPY of A Christmas Carol has now knocked Oliver Twist off the top of the tree to become the most expensive Dickens title ever sold at auction.

THE Hôtel Drouot was rocked to its foundations on December 2 after a massive police swoop ended with 12 people being taken into custody on suspicion of organised theft.

AUSTRALIA has reversed its previous government’s decision and introduced its own version of the Artist’s Resale Right.

The trustee appointed to oversee the collapse of Toronto-based Ritchies Auctioneers has presented a damning portrait of the company’s operations.