Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Goldscheider lamp offered at Plauen sale
10 May 2021'Orangepflückerin' (Orange Picker) lamp by Goldscheider up at auction in Germany.
Lapis lazuli lion from the Elamite Empire
10 May 2021Hermann Historica in Grasbrunn, on the outskirts of Munich, is holding its extensive spring auction from May 26-28 and June 1-2.
Russian artists who preferred the Parisian scene
12 April 2021For the first time in almost 30 years, Wendl (21% buyer’s premium) in Rudolstadt was forced to hold a sale without a public view and in an empty room.
Bayrle underlines his commercial value
12 April 2021The highest price at the sale of Modern and Contemporary art at Döbritz (22% buyer’s premium) in Frankfurt on March 6 was achieved for a mixed-media composition by the German artist Thomas Bayrle.
Model 1080 could be a sound investment
12 April 2021In 1935, Swiss designer Paul Fuller, who had emigrated to the US after the First World War, joined the Rudolf Wurlitzer Company as their chief designer.
Odysseus casts his gaze down on a tea-salon
12 April 2021A cast zinc figure of Odysseus is one of the prominent works of art at the Prussian Sale that Lempertz is holding in Berlin on April 24.
Ritual figure from Rapa Nui and sells in Germany
12 April 2021Tribal art specialist Zemanek-Münster will be holding a spring auction on April 24 in Würzburg.
Seasonal offering of fruit and flowers in Berne auction
12 April 2021Still Life with Autumn Fruit and Bouquet of Flowers by the Swiss artist Johannes Dünz was probably conceived as one of four seasonal paintings.
Make a house visit to see Walter Schulz-Matan
12 April 2021Although in his day Walter Schulz-Matan was regarded as an important representative of Neue Sachlichkeit and Magic Realism, his market value with today’s collectors is way below the level of many of his colleagues.
Designer Bertoia the diamond pleaser
12 April 2021When designing his wellknown chairs, the Italian-American designer Harry Bertoia drew on his early experience as a jeweller and sculptor.
Collection comes to Munich auction after royal family avoided the Nazis then fled Soviets
12 April 2021Sometimes there is no need for hyperbole: the story behind the auction on March 15 at Neumeister (27% buyer’s premium) in Munich was quite remarkable in itself.
Korean box emerges in Cologne sale
12 April 2021More than 2600 online bidders registered for the sale at Van Ham (25% buyer’s premium) in Cologne on February 24-25.
Chinese bidders drawn to Germany
12 April 2021In today’s world of modern communication, it is inevitable that several Chinese collectors would discover a 16th century Ming Dynasty ritual vessel in the catalogue of a saleroom in a small town on the edge of the Black Forest in the south-west corner of Germany.
‘Fake’ coin proves to be the €210,000 real deal
01 March 2021Gold coin rejected at first but now identified as once owned by renowned Russian collector
Young boy and a baby destined to be emperors one day
01 March 2021This watercolour and pencil drawing from 1833 which became the star lot at a recent sale at Nusser (25% buyer’s premium) in Munich had an imperial connection.
Collectors vie for Breguet gold watch which belonged to a Tolstoy
01 March 2021Abraham Louis Breguet is generally considered to be the greatest watchmaker of all times, responsible for numerous inventions, which revolutionised the art.
Heartfelt work of Joseph Beuys
22 February 2021Legendary yarn explains how this material became a key component of the artist’s designs
Judd’s art shapes up with a box and tube
22 February 2021The American artist Donald Judd (1928-94) abandoned painting in the 1960s and devoted himself to producing three-dimensional objects.
Christo coverage leads to market upturn
22 February 2021It is well known that the death of an artist often leads to an upsurge of market interest and that has certainly happened with the Bulgarian Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, who died last year.
Michaux uses mescaline as his extra inspiration
22 February 2021Among the surprises at a Contemporary art sale at Ketterer (25% buyer’s premium) in Munich was the result for a work by the painter-poet Henri Michaux.