Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Bureau cabinet rated highly as Mainz ‘masterpiece’ example
31 May 2021Distinctive bureau cabinet form could have been intended for presentation to the guild.
Artist Zacharie Noterman goes ape
31 May 2021A south German collector is parting with a painting by Zacharie Noterman, which is coming under the hammer at Metz in Heidelberg on June 18-19.
Take your opportunity to own a game of chance
31 May 2021Wendl in Rudolstadt is holding its 100th sale and among the unusual collectables is a 19th century game of chance, known as Kakelorum, from c.1830.
Portrait influenced by Caravaggio on offer at Dorotheum
31 May 2021Among the many paintings on offer at the Old Master sale held by Dorotheum are numerous works that document the vast artistic influence of Caravaggio.
Swiss and German fine art highlights
10 May 2021Recent stand-out lots from salerooms in Basel, Zurich, Constance, Stuttgart and Dresden
Watchmaker to the royal family
10 May 2021Little is known about the biography of the German watchmaker Sigismund Rentzsch, who came to London in the early 19th century, where he set up a workshop.
Goldscheider lamp offered at Plauen sale
10 May 2021'Orangepflückerin' (Orange Picker) lamp by Goldscheider up at auction in Germany.
Dragon vases fire up Zurich interest
10 May 2021Porcelain on offer in Swiss saleroom catches the eye of international bidders.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.