Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
Making hay while the sun shines: work from a Staithes Group collection
25 September 2023A dedicated sale of 117 lots from the collection of the late Teesside art dealers and Staithes Group specialists Tom and Rosamund Jordan was held this summer at Tennants (24% buyer’s premium) in North Yorkshire.
Old Masters: Off-peak service in the market
18 September 2023While the ‘peak season’ for Old Master sales in the UK traditionally falls twice a year in early July and December, coinciding with the flagship sales in the London rooms, notable lots nevertheless appear throughout the year at auctions around the country.
Dutch scholar sitter comes with a princely provenance
18 September 2023A handsome portrait with a princely provenance was among a group of intriguing Old Masters offered at a Gloucestershire saleroom
Landscape restoration project draws attention in North Yorkshire
18 September 2023One of the better performing ‘manner of’ pictures of late was a landscape very much in the style of the great French Baroque painter Claude Lorrain (1600-82).
Willem van de Velde the Younger's ships sail from south London
18 September 2023A small sketch of two ships in a gale by the leading Dutch marine painter Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633-1707) was among the lots bringing interest at Roseberys’ (25% buyer’s premium) summer sale of Old Master, British & European pictures.
Honoré Daumier takes on the law
18 September 2023Among the lots on offer at Sworders’ upcoming Old Master, British and European Art sale is a small sketch of two lawyers by Honoré Daumier (1808-79).
Charles III Coronation chairs consigned to Christie’s
15 September 2023The first chairs from this year’s Coronation to be sold are coming to auction… already.
Killer bids as Sotheby’s shows how the celebrity sale is done
11 September 2023Sensational was the only word for it.
Sir Joshua’s Guercino sketch surfaces Down Under
11 September 2023The artist and Royal Academy founder Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) was also a major collector, especially in the field of Old Master works on paper.
ART MARKET: De László - now we’re talking
11 September 2023Trio of works by the Hungarian artist underlines the appeal of portraits as conversation pieces
Frank Owen Salisbury in tune with a cellist
11 September 2023When it comes to portraits produced by Frank Owen Salisbury (1874-1962), values are frequently determined by the fame of the sitter.
Ching kingfishers catch bids
09 September 2023Since the 1960s, birds have been the main subject matter of New Zealand artist Raymond Ching (b.1939).
Freddie Mercury collection: Major sums for lyrics and piano at Sotheby’s auction
07 September 2023The handwritten lyrics for Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the piano which Freddie Mercury used to compose it were among the major highlights at Sotheby's auction of the singer’s collection in London.
British Museum ‘is being unfair to the trade’ by not releasing list of missing items
04 September 2023Demands are growing in the antiquities trade for the British Museum to publish a list of objects stolen in an alleged theft from its collection by a member of staff.
Roma Numismatics director Richard Beale admits coin charges
04 September 2023Richard Beale, director of the London auction house Roma Numismatics, has pleaded guilty to a series of charges in connection with unlawful sales of ancient coins.
Munnings stands and delivers
04 September 2023With the traditional hiatus in the UK auction market typically stretching across the month of August, a number of notable picture highlights appeared slightly earlier this summer at sales around the country.
Trade concerns grow after British Museum items ‘offered on eBay’
28 August 2023Concerns have been raised in the antiquities trade that items allegedly stolen from the British Museum by a staff member and offered on eBay may start emerging on the wider market.
Bidders just dig the Mary Potter style
28 August 2023Coastal scene formerly owned by collector in the diamond mining industry attracts considerable interest
If at first you don’t succeed, try a new estimate
28 August 2023What’s best to do with unsold lots… offer them again at half the price guide perhaps?
Eurich’s mystery girl makes notable price
28 August 2023The artist Richard Ernst Eurich (1903-92) is rather hard to categorise.