International

‘Sherlockian scholar’ is the term Potter & Potter (20% buyer’s premium) uses to describe Robert Hess.

Known for his countless self-portraits, second only in number to Rembrandt, and a distinctive style often with somewhat sinister undertones, Max Beckmann also created some surprising works.

Top lot of Dorotheum’s (25/20.84% buyer’s premium) Viennese sale of 19th century paintings on May 2 lived up to its expectations.

The signature Fortin à Paris on the dial of this 21in (53cm) high marble and gilt bronze clock shows that it was made by a member of one of the most prominent Parisian clockmaker dynasties of the 18th century.

Judging by the overall totals, the latest Modern and Contemporary art auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips in New York were something of a bump back to reality after the last two sales series posted the highest grossing totals on record.

An Egyptian polychrome sarcophagus panel from the Late Dynastic Period was one of the highlight sales at the recent TEFAF New York.

Art from the collection of Christine Poirot-Delpech was the object of a sell-out single-owner sale at Art Valorem (28.8% buyer’s premium inc tax) at Drouot on April 6.

One of the top-priced lots in a recent sale held by CRN Auctions (22% buyer’s premium) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 23 was this work on paper by Alexander Calder (1898-1976).

This late untitled drawing by Arshile Gorky (1904-48) in pencil and crayon on paper was the highlight of a sale of Modern and Contemporary paintings held by Digard (25/20/14% buyer’s premium) on March 28 at Drouot in Paris.

The American artist Alex Katz (b.1927) is known for his large, brightly coloured and boldly delineated works.

Two of Jane Austen’s works, both from the same Wyoming collector’s estate, were stand-out lots in a May 11 sale held in Chicago.

A classic pale pastel toned still-life by Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) is one of the headline lots in a two-day sale of Modern and Contemporary Art at Farsettiarte in Prato in Italy on May 26-27.

One of the more remarkable results of recent weeks came in a May 3 sale at Freeman’s (26/21/15% buyer’s premium) of Philadelphia.

Artcurial has two days of sales devoted to Impressionist and Modern and Postwar and Contemporary art in Paris on June 7-8.

The composition and use of colour make 'Monica nude with Lichtenstein', which is being sold by Ketterer Kunst in Munich on June 9, instantly recognisable as a work by American pop-artist Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004).

This Normandy beach scene by Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) from c.1948-49 will be offered for sale by Gros & Delettrez at Drouot in Paris on June 20.

The artist couple Christo (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) were obviously in equal measure creative, determined and patient.

It is a rare event when a painting by Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017) turns up at a German auction, but on June 5, Van Ham can offer his 1996 painting Miami in its Modern and Contemporary sale.