Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Example of the world’s first functioning lighter offered in Germany
17 October 2022Among the eye-catchers at Wendl in Rudolstadt from October 27-29 is an example of the world’s first functioning lighter.
Swiss selection of Russian silver
17 October 2022A three-day auction held by Schuler (23/20/16% buyer’s premium) in Zurich achieved numerous notable results.
Silver candlesticks linked to Prussian royal family spotted by eagle-eyed bidders
17 October 2022On the first day of an auction held by Schloss Ahlden (26% buyer’s premium), a German collector with a passion for history saw off numerous dealers and collectors from home and abroad who had also trained their sights on a set of four silver candlesticks from the early 19th century.
Rich harvest nine years later
17 October 2022The private collector who consigned a painting he had bought at Sotheby’s in London in 2013 to Koller (25/22/15% buyer’s premium) in Zurich for the auction on September 23 will have been most agreeably surprised by the result.
The mysterious bi-conical bottles
17 October 2022From the late Middle Ages onwards, an unusual form of glass bottle appeared in many parts of continental Europe.
Lantern that meant last orders
17 October 2022A very rare form of German 17th century silver is on offer at Van Ham’s auction on November 16 in Cologne.
Terracotta figures set for €240 taken to €62,200
17 October 2022There was obviously much more to a pair of 14 and 15in (35 and 37cm) terracotta figures offered at auction than the starting price of €240 suggested.
Vase reveals a tale of romance
17 October 2022The auctioneers at Hargesheimer (28% buyer’s premium) in Dusseldorf were not expecting the broad international interest eventually generated by an 18in (45cm) high Chinese porcelain vase.
Tree trunk takes on different role
17 October 2022Five years after he acceded to the throne in 1873, King Albert of Saxony decided to renovate the 17th century hunting castle at Wermsdorf.