Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Second-heaviest coin in classical numismatics sells at Berlin auction
20 March 2023One would hardly call a 13in x 2ft 1in (34 x 63cm) copper block, weighing more than 32 pounds (14.6kg), a convenient method of payment, but in the mid-17th century such plates were indeed issued in Sweden under King Charles X Gustav.
Famous canine Nipper finds his voice
02 January 2023In these days of music-streaming, the once ubiquitous image of the mongrel Nipper listening to a gramophone is no longer such a familiar sight.
Hans Coper on the hour
02 January 2023Long before the auction in Krefeld began, it was clear that the price for a vase by Hans Coper would be way higher than the estimate of €8000.
Code machine not all it was cracked up to be
02 January 2023A chance find proved to be very fortuitous for one of the consignors of the auction held by Schreiber (22% buyer’s premium) on November 5.
Bellotto by royal appointment
02 January 2023One of four works as commission for the Polish king is the star lot of an Austrian collection
Historic Pathé Frères films reeled in at auction
02 January 2023A treasure trove for film aficionados was one of the highlights at Auction Team Breker (24.8% buyer’s premium) on November 5.
Chadwick proved his mettle
21 November 2022A welding course was to have a lasting effect on the artistic development of the British sculptor Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003).
Bixie could bring power and position if third time lucky
14 November 2022A multitude of fabulous creatures are an integral part of traditional Chinese mythology. Among them is the Bixie, whose name translates as ‘to ward off evil spirits’.
Watch given as gift to Thomas Mann’s favoured grandson emerges
14 November 2022In his diary entry for August 12, 1950, the German writer and Nobel Prize recipient Thomas Mann described a meeting with his daughter-in-law Gret, who had married his youngest son Michael in 1939, and her 10-year-old son Frido in a café in Innsbruck.
First Giacometti man strides out
14 November 2022Two closely related bronze sculptures by Alberto Giacometti are among the highlights of the Modern and Contemporary sales on December 2 at Lempertz in Cologne.
Eighteenth century flask sells for strong price
14 November 2022Glassware with provenance to Augustus of Saxony takes five-figure sum
Augsburg and Meissen mix help fuel demand for cutlery set at Metz auction
14 November 2022The combination of Meissen porcelain and Augsburg silver proved to be a winning formula at a sale held by Metz (25% buyer’s premium) in Heidelberg.
Venus sculpture triples estimate in Munich
14 November 2022The sculptor Prosper d’Épinay (1836-1914) was a true cosmopolitan. Born in Mauritius, he later became a British subject, but is still often considered to be a French artist.
Check out Whitney’s spontaneous design
24 October 2022According to Munich saleroom Ketterer, the 3ft 4in (1.02m) square painting N. O. 9th . Ward, which is part of the sale on December 9, is the first work by the American artist Stanley Whitney (b.1946) ever to be offered at a German auction.
Take a seat and have a discussion
24 October 2022The central motif of Antoni Tàpies’ (1923- 2012) Personnage assis (Variation XI) has been the subject of many discussions among art historians.
Regular Lake Como villa visits left Hockney full of beans
24 October 2022Watercolour given as thanks to his Heinz family host in 2003 now sells to a US collector.
Marcks hoped for better
24 October 2022The creative roots of this 22in (56cm) bronze figure, which was one of the highlights at Nusser (22.69% buyer’s premium), date back to the pre-war years.
Bloody good or bloody bad
24 October 2022The Austrian artist and composer Hermann Nitsch, who died earlier this year at the age of 84, had as many detractors as followers.
Series idea born after a friend’s pregnancy
24 October 2022Since 1969, when it was sold at a gallery exhibition in Munich, one of Niki de Saint Phalle’s (1930-2002) well-known Nanas had belonged to a south German collector.
Rage against the perfect machine
24 October 2022The complex and sometimes bizarre machines that the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely (1925-91) constructed during his long career belong to the most distinctive examples of kinetic art.