London

Lesser-known painter Alice Boyd emerges via Cheyne Walk at London auction

The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair (DATF) has announced the launch of its latest iteration of the online platform, Digital Decorative, which was set up in response to the cancellation of its physical fairs during the pandemic.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Sotheby’s sold the collection of Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma at the end of last month.

Titled 'Tossa de Mar' (c.1908), this painting by the Spanish Impressionist Laureano Barrau (1863-1957) forms part of an exhibition at London gallery Colnaghi putting some of Spain’s lesser-known modern masters in the limelight.

The Jonathan Cooper gallery was very amused to find these two window-shoppers taking a gander at one of the artworks on offer at the Chelsea firm.

The Islamic and Indian Art sale at Bonhams (27.5/25% buyer’s premium) in London on March 30 included this diamond and emerald set forehead pendant (chand-tikka) from the collection of Maharani Jindan Kaur (1817-63).

Lack of a dust jacket is not always crucial to a high price, as Erskine Childers’ much-loved The Riddle of the Sands of 1903 shows.

Tapestry and textiles specialist S Franses is to face its landlord in court for the fourth time next month.

For the famous English socialite Anne Parsons, Countess of Rosse (1902-92), appearances certainly mattered – and she was known to use eye-catching jewels to accentuate her own beauty.

Old Master sheets such as this lively example of satyr and Bacchus studies are believed to have served as a repertoire of motifs used in paintings or prints by the artist or their studio.

Among the highlights of last week’s Islamic and Indian art sales in London was this late Safavid portrait of a mercenary in the Persian army painted in the cosmopolitan city of Isfahan c.1680-90.

The London Original Print Fair (LOPF) has modified its operations to suit the current restrictions and plans a Print Week in dealers’ galleries next month.

“I joined up as a youngster for a bit of fun, but it didn’t turn out like that. We were young men made old before our time.”

“We are super-excited to be reopening our Flea London again on Saturday, April 17, after so long and we are planning on 27 stalls and 10 container shops here at Vinegar Yard,” enthused Christian Scrimgeour about her fleamarket held a few minutes from London Bridge Station.

The name Abbey Road has gone far beyond its significance as a smart street in north London thanks to renowned music studios and a seminal album

More Mod Brit delights from the Freer collection kept in a house full to bursting point

For people who follow the art market, Banksy (b.1975) is now impossible to ignore.

Famous for the sort of graffiti that morphs into street art and critical acclaim, Banksy is now bringing in big money in the form of screenprints