Sotheby's

Sotheby’s chalked up a premium-inclusive total of just under €11.5m (£10.25m) when it sold the Marceau Rivière collection of African art in Paris.

Sotheby’s has been sold to BidFair USA, a company owned by media and telecom entrepreneur and art collector Patrick Drahi.

A lock of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair that was “evidently given” by the great composer to the pianist Anton Halm in 1826 was knocked down at £28,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in London last week.

Chelsea and Mayfair are two major centres for the art trade, particularly in the summer when events like Masterpiece and London Art Week (respectively) arrive.

As the Pride season begins this month with a series of events and parades in major cities to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and Swann Auction Galleries are to hold auctions honouring the movement.

Dating from the 12th and early 13th centuries, the Lewis Chessmen collection was rediscovered on Lewis in 1831 and is among the most famous archaeological finds.

A pair of early 16th century carved stone putti was the toast of a recent auction at Sotheby’s Paris. Created for the chapel of a famous German Renaissance banking family, they sold as part of a collection from a French château for €1.95m (£1.71m).

LS Lowry’s (1887-1976) painting of a back-street cricket match in Salford from 1938 is among the stand-out lots offered at Sotheby’s this summer. Ahead of the sale, it was unveiled today at The Lowry in Salford – a public gallery not far from the Old Trafford Cricket Ground – where it will remain on view until May 27.

An update on recent appointments in the world of art and antiques.

A painting from Claude Monet’s (1840-1926) ‘haystacks’ series set the highest price at auction for an Impressionist picture at Sotheby’s New York last night.

The government has temporarily stopped the export of the judge's copy of 'Lady Chatterley’s Lover' from the infamous obscenity trial.