Opinion


ATG Letter

ATG letter: Artist’s Resale Right has already done the damage

06 February 2023

Your article in ATG No 2576 speculates that London and the UK might lose their prominence if the major antiques fairs close down.

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ATG letter: Why all auction houses should also provide full PDFs of their catalogues as standard

31 May 2021

Re: recent letters highlighting the importance of printed catalogues.

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New anti money laundering cost to the art trade 'entirely inappropriate'

19 October 2020

First, regulation under the Anti Money Laundering (AML) Regime and now to follow, a government levy to pay for the privilege?

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ATG letters: Sotheby’s 'overhead' fee – so what is the point of buyer’s premium?

17 August 2020

MADAM – ATG's report ‘Sotheby’s introduces new fee on top of the hammer price and buyer’s premium’ (News, ATG No 2454) will raise eyebrows.

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ATG comment: The trade will find a way to survive the coronavirus crisis

23 March 2020

There’s an age-old adage that wherever there’s a willing buyer and a willing seller, the two cannot be separated. But the current outbreak of the coronavirus has had more effect in creating distance between these two than anything experienced in modern times.

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ATG letter: Is a firm price fair for the trader and buyer?

03 February 2020

MADAM – I was browsing in an upmarket antiques centre in Oxfordshire recently and saw something very unfamiliar to me as a regular buyer from dealers in shops as well as at fairs.

Statement by officers of the BADA council

23 September 2019

BADA sent ATG this statement last week providing further details on the sale of a majority stake in its fair

ATG letter: My plea on the derisory ‘Penny Farthing’ term

06 May 2019

MADAM – I have noticed an increasing penchant for editors, advertisers and auction companies to use the term ‘Penny Farthing’ in the pages of ATG when in fact they should be using the term ‘Ordinary Bicycle’, or, if there is a need to be more descriptive, ‘High Bicycle’.

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ATG letter: Giacomo Herman cabinet must stay in UK

29 April 2019

Copy of a letter sent to Jeremy Wright MP, secretary of state for culture, concerning the temporary export ban placed on a 350-year-old cabinet by Baroque artisan Giacomo Herman in the hope a buyer can be found to keep it in the UK (see ATG No 2388):

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Auctioneer Chris Aston: Why I charge for phone bids

28 January 2019

Fees charged by auctioneers, from buyer’s premium to condition reports, have been a hot topic in the pages of ATG and on social media recently. One reader contacted us regarding the move by a West Midlands auction house to charge winning bidders who have used the phone the same fee as online buyers.

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New year, new resolutions: 12 pledges to make 2019 a good year to be in art and antiques

07 January 2019

Art market players reveal what is top of their to-do list in 2019.

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The big debate: should dealers be vetting?

26 November 2018

The TEFAF decision to remove dealers from vetting at their shows has caused debate (ATG Nos 2367 & 2368). Here, silver dealer Alastair Dickenson writes to ATG giving his view, while we canvass opinion from four more experts.

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New daytime TV show ‘no substitute’ for Flog It!

12 November 2018

The art and antiques trade have a love-hate relationship with television shows depicting their career choice.

Comment by ATG's editor-at-large

05 November 2018

At times, the UK art market can feel London-centric – particularly in a week when the capital plays host to 'Asian Art in London' and the city stakes its place alongside Hong Kong and New York as a world hub for the Asian art market.

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Flog It! cancelled: Will the daytime antiques TV show be sadly missed or was it an idea flogged to death?

08 October 2018

The BBC’s decision to end the long-running Flog It! show after 17 years has been greeted with sadness by those involved and many viewers.

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Round table debate: The price is right

10 September 2018

In an increasingly complex marketplace, how should auctioneers and dealers charge for their services?

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ATG’s Chippendale news story: media reaction

03 September 2018

Our story last week revealed that ivory elements of an important piece of Chippendale furniture, the Rowland Winn commode made c.1766, were removed for its appearance at a Christie’s auction earlier this year, the commode having been imported from the US.

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Comment: Trade is putting up a good fight against Trump’s tariff

13 August 2018

The US-China trade war, previously the stuff of new technology, heavy industry and agribusiness, has now opened a new front: cultural heritage. The threat of a 25% tariff on imported Chinese art and antiques will soon be discussed in Washington, DC.

COMMENT: Now's not the time for the trade to throw in the towel regarding the ivory ban

09 April 2018

The general parameters of the government’s ivory ban, on the cards for years, are finally clear. As always with issues of CITES, the devil will be in the detail. Though the trade feels despondent in the face of the ban, a small concession on the currently very narrow 'de minimis' rule will make the ban a lot more manageable.

Soapbox: Should the best auction lot always be saved until last?

12 March 2018

Two opposing views on the big questions facing the trade… This week we ask two auctioneers about the best strategy regarding the positioning of the best lots in a sale.

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