Fine Art

The January series of Old Master auctions at Sotheby’s New York was led by a Sandro Botticelli (c.1445-1510) painting for the second year running.

A set of six 17th century portraits depicting Ottoman sultans sparked an extraordinary bidding contest at a Sotheby’s online sale.

This family group of four polychromed limewood kneeling figures, made in England c.1610-30, is to go on offer with Cotswolds dealership Houlston.

This small wood and fibre glass sculpture by Banksy (b.1974) sold for £800,000 last week – a house record for Anderson & Garland.

Response to trio of works indicates fresh interest in female artists is a factor at all price levels

Artcurial will offer a painting by the French artist Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-1779), 'Le panier de fraises des bois' (The Basket of Wild Strawberries), at its auction of Old Master and 19th century paintings in Paris on March 23.

A versatile painter in a variety of mediums, Anna Airy (1882- 1964) was considered by some to be among the most gifted artists of her day.

Mallams is selling a collection of around 30 watercolours by the British natural history illustrator and painter, Sarah Stone (c.1760-1844).

This gouache by Fernand Léger (1881-1955), Les Loisirs, will be one of the highlights of the next sale at Clarke Auction Gallery in Larchmont, New York, on February 6.

Found covered in grime in a Portuguese auction house, a three quarter-length portrait of a dark-haired lady by Dutch artist Willem Wissing (1655-1709) has been restored to its former glory by a Belgian dealership and the identity of its sitter revealed as a British aristocrat.

Fine art dealer Daniel Hunt has launched an auction business opposite his former dealership in Sloane Street.

The so-called Arundel Lions were once a well-known landmark in Sheffield.

Francis Towne watercolour was one of his many works to have gone through Agnews

Angling and fishing fans will be familiar with the firm Hardy of Alnwick. In 1872 William Hardy set up shop as a gunsmith.

Estimated at just £60-100, a pair of Georgian portrait miniatures sold online for £2900 at Amersham Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium) on January 6.

Two British sporting scenes by French artist Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) were among the best-sellers in auctions held within a day of each other on either side of the Atlantic.

A significant collection of works by George Bissill (1896-1973), the Derbyshire miner who enjoyed some fleeting success as an artist in the 1920s-30s but who later died largely forgotten, emerged recently at Mallams (25% buyer’s premium) in Oxford.

Offered at Sotheby’s (26/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) in an online sale that ran until December 1 under the title of The Fantasy World of Arthur Rackham was a collection of 31 original ink and watercolour artworks by the artist from the collection of American photographer Shirley Carter Burden (1908-89).

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.