Latest News Articles by Jonathan Franks
Eight bidders show flower power
07 January 2019Eight determined bidders were on hand when Karl & Faber (25% buyer’s premium) sold a floral still-life by Nicolaes van Veerendael (1640-91) at auction in Munich.
Expressionist work by Kirchner tops list at Berlin auction
07 January 2019Topping the results list at a recent sale at Grisebach (30/25/20% buyer’s premium) in Berlin was a work by the German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner that was created on island in the Baltic.
Price of Robert Capa’s 'Falling Soldier' photograph rises high
07 January 2019One of the most iconic photographic images of war came under the hammer at a recent Westlicht (20% buyer’s premium) auction in Vienna.
Thonet furniture from international expert's collection emerges in Cologne auction
07 January 2019Since the early 1990s Wolfgang Thillmann, a German and philosophy teacher, has devoted himself to collecting Thonet bentwood furniture and become an internationally acknowledged expert in the process.
Export clock at Frankfurt auction ticks Chinese taste
21 December 2018Chinese bidders were the driving force at this autumn’s German and Austrian auctions of Asian art.
Art Deco stand-out sculpture at Munich sale delivers at top level
21 December 2018For 30 years the London lawyer David Cooper and his wife Marie devoted themselves to building a collection of Art Deco sculpture.
Auction highlights from Germany, Austria and Switzerland including ornate watch selling in Hamburg
19 November 2018The London watchmaker John Ilbery, active from 1780-1839, is credited with the invention of the ‘montre chinoise’, highly ornate goldenamel watches made for the Chinese market.
Two fairs in Munich lead a spotlight on the art and antiques scene in Germany
08 October 2018Autumn in the Bavarian capital Munich is traditionally fair time. Shortly after the Oktoberfest closes, exhibitors at two art and antique fairs are hoping for masses of equally enthusiastic visitors.
Paul Storr silver tureen offered at Cologne auction
08 October 2018From the very beginning of his career as an independent silversmith in the late 18th century, the London craftsman Paul Storr received numerous noble and royal commissions. He was the foremost artisan in his field from the early 1790s until the late 1830s and supplied most of the silverware purchased by the royal household during this period.
Habsburg royal memorabilia leads selection of Central European hammer highlights
06 August 2018Imperial souvenirs, Expressionist portraits and metalware from Augsburg and Iran were among the recent highlights at sales in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Bamberg boom time as visitors flock to German festival
23 July 2018Over 20 years ago, leading art and antiques dealers in the picturesque Bavarian city of Bamberg came up with the idea of holding a coordinated summer sales exhibition.
A Chinese chair to make bidders sit up
02 July 2018Stuttgart auction house Nagel (33% buyer’s premium) held its summer sale of Asian art in Salzburg having acquired an impressive array of quality pieces from European and other collections.
Max Beckmann heads to new height for a German auction record
25 June 2018It took less than five minutes for a work by Max Beckmann (1884-1950) to become the most expensive painting ever sold at a German auction.
Auctions in Germany that explode into life
25 June 2018Germany’s most expensive painting sold at auction, an unusual early firearm and a fin de siècle snake charmer are among the highlights featured here from recent auctions in Munich, Berlin and Cologne.
German and Swiss sales on a roll
07 May 2018Old Masters and post-Impressionist paintings, vintage luggage and the almost inevitable Asian artefacts all appeared among the best-sellers in the recent round of auctions held across Germany and Switzerland.
Jewellery by a Wiener Werkstatte leading light on offer in Vienna
07 May 2018Main stage at the design auction at Dorotheum in Vienna on May 30 is taken by jewellery designed by Josef Hoffmann, one of the leading lights of the Wiener Werkstätte.
Life’s a picnic in Zurich
07 May 2018Axel Plambeck (b.1936) was CEO of a re-insurance company and in his spare time he collected vintage luggage and picnic sets.
Flintlock muskets to trigger bidding in Cologne
07 May 2018Numerous works of art in the spring sales at Van Ham in Cologne come from the extensive legacy of Friedrich Wilhelm Waffenschmidt (1925-2017), founder of one of Europe’s leading electronics retailers.
Art Nouveau centrepiece set to take prominence in Munich
07 May 2018A late 19th century Art Nouveau centrepiece is one of the highlights at Quittenbaum’s Munich sale on May 15.
Eyewitness view of Napoleon in Russia 1812 up at auction
07 May 2018Pride comes before a fall and in the case of Napoleon, Smolensk came before Moscow. On May 18 Ketterer Kunst is selling a 2ft x 2ft 7in (60 x 79cm) scene of Napoleon observing the burning city of Smolensk.