Art Market

“It was no surprise that a single-owner sale of noble provenance and with royal connections was such a success”, said Thomas Jenner-Fust.

When it comes to the portraits of the Swiss artist Firmin Massot (1766- 1849), it tends to be depictions of young female sitters shown either full length of ‘jusqu’aux genoux’ (as far as the knees) – a format he often favoured – that attract the most attention commercially.

Despite Peter Barkworth’s very public profile his art collecting was a much more personal matter

Marion Richardson (1892-1946), a pioneer of the child art movement, was described as ‘one of the most influential art innovators of our time’.

An oil on canvas of a German scene was probably on display at Louis Comfort Tiffany's Long Island home, sold in the 1940s.

Like all artists born in the 19th century, Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) underwent a traditional academic training, studying at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule (now the University of Applied Arts, Vienna) from 1876-83.

A picture by the artist dubbed ‘the Irish Alfred Wallis’ soared above estimate to bring a record at Dublin saleroom Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium).

To understand how European audiences viewed the Middle East in the 19th century, you could do worse than look at the body of work produced by Belgian artist Jan-Baptist Huysmans (1826-1906)*.

Works consigned by family descendants of artists proved to be an intriguing aspect of the latest Old Master, British & European Paintings sale at Bellmans (25% buyer’s premium).

Artist’s record broken by trademark highly detailed study of natural objects painted in tempera

A group of seven works by George Spencer Watson (1869-1934) provided a boost to Minster Auctions’ (20% buyer’s premium) recent two-day sale of fine art and antiques.

One of the most important groups of works by the artists’ colony to emerge recently indicates level of demand in this market

Watercolour of a sleeping feline – possibly her favourite cat – takes £19,000 in Cambridge saleroom

A strong provenance is always desirable on the secondary market, but it is essential when it comes to selling works by LS Lowry (1887-1976) - arguably Britain’s most faked artist.

Two prominent single-owner collections put together into a single Town & Country sale at Dreweatts generated some decent if selective bidding when it came to the pictures on offer.

It’s wise to keep a lid on estimates for traditional pictures where condition and market freshness is lacking

A sense of rediscovery came at Young’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Surrey when a portrait of a figure in eye-catching red attire emerged from a local deceased estate.