Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Warhol fascinated by Christmas kitsch
16 November 2020Before he turned to painting cans of soup and Brillo boxes, Andy Warhol had to make a living by more conventional means.
Brazilian diplomat's modern art collection offered in Berlin auction
16 November 2020As part of its Modern and Contemporary sales on December 3-4, Grisebach in Berlin is selling the collection of Mário Calábria, who for many decades combined his profession as a Brazilian diplomat with his passion for Modern art.
Fernando Botero sculpture emerges at Van Ham in Cologne
16 November 2020The Colombian artist Fernando Botero is primarily known for his exaggerated painted portrayals of people, a style that he also applied to his still-lifes and now goes by the name of Boterismo.
Trademark grid work by Otto Piene
16 November 2020Koller is holding a sale of Post-War and Contemporary art on December 5 in Zurich.
Christo had a surprise in store
16 November 2020In 1964, the Bulgarian artist Christo Javacheff and his wife Jeanne-Claude made a first visit to New York. Soon afterwards they worked on their projects titled Store Fronts, Show Cases and Show Windows.
Sebastian Vrancx conflict scene emerges at Munich auction
02 November 2020In the 1620s, Sebastian Vrancx was among the most prominent painters working in Antwerp. He was famed for his landscapes and village scenes, but was also renowned for his often drastically detailed depictions of battles.
Dalpayrat vases offered in German sale
02 November 2020Before he started producing his own ceramics in the late 1880s in Paris, at the age of 45, Adrien Dalpayrat had worked as a faïence painter in numerous other factories.
Ten minutes to make impact
02 November 2020The French clockmaker Antide Janvier, who constructed his first mechanical globe when he was only 15, is primarily famous for his highly complex astronomical clocks and planetaria.
Bone up on Japanese woodblocks
02 November 2020On November 18 Van Ham in Cologne will hold a Decorative Art auction which will include several more items from the collection of Thomas Olbricht.
Danish painter's contemporary view of a tragedy offered in Vienna
02 November 2020A tragic shipwreck provided the Danish marine painter Anton Melbye and his colleague John William Bottomley, a German of Irish origin, with a dramatic subject for their 2ft x 2ft 11in (60 x 90cm) oil painting The Wreck of the Anglo Saxon from 1863.
White-glove auction as Berlin museum collection is dispersed
02 November 2020Modern paintings and whole wunderkammer from a closed museum deliver sell-out response
Eye-opening images feature in German auction
12 October 2020An October 27-30 sale of more than 2800 lots at Reiss & Sohn of Königstein-im-Taunus includes a 1583 first of Georg Bartisch’s Opthalmodouleia…, a famous work on eye surgery that is also the first extensively illustrated account of any surgical speciality.
Now available in 3-D: Parallax Stereogram comes to Cologne sale
28 September 2020In 1902, American inventor Frederic Eugene Ives applied for a patent for his Parallax Stereogram.
Karl Kunz's boxing match appears in Frankfurt auction
28 September 2020Among the million-plus visitors to the notorious 'Die Ausstellung Entartete Kunst' organised by the Nazis in 1937 was the painter Karl Kunz (1905-71). He was not there to be disgusted by the excesses of the “modern degenerates”, as was the official intention, but rather to be inspired by the work of his fellow painters.
Sundial and moon sketch draw demand in Plauen auction
28 September 2020Mehlis (23% buyer’s premium) in Plauen held its first sale of the new season on August 28-29. There was lively bidding, with a high proportion of the bidders joining in by phone.
Dealer event in Munich gets green light for 11th edition at Bavarian royal palace
28 September 2020Fair organisers are not to be envied at the moment. Only at the beginning of September were the managers of the 'Highlights Fair' in Munich given the go-ahead for this year’s event (the 11th edition) which is opening its doors to the general public from October 22-25.
Remembering the ‘happy’ jester
28 September 2020Joseph Fröhlich (1694-1757) was a well-known figure at the Saxon court from the late 1720s onwards. He was appointed court jester to Augustus the Strong in 1727 and held the position for three decades – perfect for a man whose family name translates as ‘happy’.
Swiss painter admired by van Gogh now sought after by collectors
20 July 2020In a letter to his brother, written in 1883, Vincent van Gogh expressed his admiration for the Swiss painter Albert Anker.
Meet the Tudors in miniature form
20 July 2020A bidding battle broke out at Kinsky (28% buyer’s premium) in Vienna for this pair of figures fashioned as King Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I, each about 13in (32cm) high.
East Germany nostalgia fuels demand
20 July 2020There is a phenomenon known in Germany as Ostalgie, which is a nostalgic feeling for the now defunct East German state (GDR).