Fine Art

The Contemporary art market survived better than many had expected at the London auction series last week.

A jury in New York lost their chance to rule on the first of several lawsuits against the Knoedler Gallery and its former director Ann Freedman when the suits were settled out of court.

Export bars have been placed on the robes and dagger of TE Lawrence (1888-1935), better known as Lawrence of Arabia, in a bid to keep the items in the UK.

This year’s 20/21 British Art Fair, held in September for more than a quarter century, has been cancelled as no suitable London venue can be found.

In a week of varying results, the Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist Art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's London took £228.8m with premium in total (compared with £381.4m for the equivalent series last year).

Expert witnesses were called to give evidence during legal proceedings between Domenico De Sole, chairman of Sotheby’s, and Ann Freedman, the former president of Knoedler gallery, over the sale of a fake Rothko painting.

A painting of a Parisian street scene stolen in New York has been recovered by the Art Recovery Group. The painting had been consigned to a Miami art gallery in November last year by a private individual.

Fake works purporting to be Damien Hirst studio paintings are circulating on the UK regional art and antiques market.

Sotheby’s are following Christie’s by staging their flagship New York May auctions of Impressionist & Modern art and Contemporary art in a single week.

Despite some obvious condition issues – including the absence of a handle and a significant portion of the pedestal base – this late 18th century Italian white marble model of the Warwick Vase sold for £14,000 at Woolley & Wallis’ latest sale.

Among the works drawing interest at the latest round of Old Master and British Paintings sales in London was Joseph Wright of Derby’s (1734-97) ‘A grotto in the gulf of Salerno...’.

Topping Bonhams Knightsbridge’s marathon nine-hour sale of items from Hooton Pagnell Hall in South Yorkshire was this 20½in x 2ft 5in (52 x 76cm) watercolour and gouache work by Paul Sandby (1730-1809).

Paul César Helleu (1859-1927) is best known for his Belle Epoque portraits of beautiful society women.

This 11 x 7in (29 x 20cm) Tête de Femme by Alexej Von Jawlensky is one of over 170 works by a roster of some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art that will feature in a two-part single-owner sale to be held by Tajan in Paris next week.

A pair of royal portraits by the Spanish artist Miguel Jacinto Meléndez (1679-1734) go on sale at auction in Madrid this month.

An archive comprising Lucian Freud’s sketchbooks, drawings and letters has been acquired by the nation from the estate of the artist through the Acceptance in Lieu Scheme.

A late 18th century bust of the Goddess Diana which was looted from the Royal Lazienki Palace in Warsaw by the Nazis has been returned to Poland after emerging at auction in Vienna.

When two academics spotted a work on the stand of the Lyons dealer Galerie Michel Descours on the opening night of the dedicated Old Masters fair Paris Tableau last week, they immediately felt it was a work that should be in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Lyon.