International

About 80% of the global art market by value takes place outside the UK. The largest art market in the world is the US with China in third place (after the UK) followed by France, Germany and Switzerland.

Many more nations have a rich art and antiques heritage with active auction, dealer, fair, gallery and museum sectors even if their market size by value is smaller.

Read the top stories and latest art and antiques news from all these countries.

1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen

1950s Mercedes becomes most expensive Grand Prix car ever sold at auction

07 February 2025

A 1954 Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Stromlinienwagen has become the world’s most expensive Grand Prix car ever sold after hammering down at €51.15m (£42.5m) including 15% buyer’s premium.

Emile Boisseau sculpture

BRAFA reports record visitor numbers for its 70th edition

05 February 2025

BRAFA 2025 came to a close on February 2 having registered a record 72,000 visitors.

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Pioneering female author Burney makes her entrance

03 February 2025

A copy of pioneering female author’s novel Evelina appeared at auction for first time in a decade

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Five questions with art dealer Jill Newhouse

03 February 2025

Jill Newhouse founded her gallery in New York in 1980. She is the fourth generation of her family to be an art dealer.

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Marvels come to the market including two large portrait plaques by a celebrated Limoges enameller

03 February 2025

Paris auction staged at the Drouot centre offered a richly varied and valuable range of lots

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BRAFA brightens up grey skies

03 February 2025

Event in the Belgian capital manages to combine sense of luxury with a friendly and relaxed atmosphere early on

Gold medal from 1904 Olympics

Olympic gold medal from 1904 races to record price

31 January 2025

A gold medal from the 1904 Olympics set its own first when it fetched $436,297 (£351,000) plus 25% premium at RR Auction's timed sale in the US – a record for any 1904 medal.

Simon Phillips

Latest Movers & Shakers including new chair of Treasure House Fair

30 January 2025

The latest jobs moves and appointments across the world of art and antiques

Bob Dylan Tambourine Man Lyrics

Bob Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man lyrics sell at auction

28 January 2025

Bob Dylan’s draft lyrics for 1965 hit 'Mr Tambourine Man' sold for $400,000 (£320,800) plus 27% buyer’s premium at Julien’s Auctions in Nashville, US, earlier this month.

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Yale Centre for British Art buys rare Emma Soyer portrait from dealer

27 January 2025

Art dealer Dominic Sanchez-Cabello has sold a rare portrait by Emma Soyer (c.1810-42) to the Yale Center for British Art.

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Saxon armoury splashes out for sitter with military connection

27 January 2025

London dealer William Thuillier has sold a portrait of Frederick Augustus I, the Elector of Saxony and Duke of Warsaw, to the armoury of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden.

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Scarce Singer painting emerges at auction

27 January 2025

Until the 1990s, Ilona Singer (1905-44) belonged to a forgotten generation of artists whose lives were cut short by the Nazis.

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Assembled with care: the sumptuous Zilkha collection comes to auction

27 January 2025

Sale of Kunstkammer items amassed by the founder of Mothercare will bring English and Continental silver and furniture in the princely tradition to the rostrum

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Schlemmer figure hits a new high

27 January 2025

A plaster figure by the Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943) set a new auction record for one of his sculptures when it was sold by Lempertz (26/20% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.

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Tinplate toys take impressive five-figure prices

27 January 2025

Well-funded bidders joined the fray at the recent sale of tinplate toys held by Hohenstaufen (24.5% buyer’s premium) in Göppingen. The two top lots were very different but brought equally impressive results.

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Marcks makes his mark at four salerooms just a few days apart

27 January 2025

Bronze works by the accomplished 20th century sculptor prove to be sought-after purchases

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Master drawings event involves dozens of galleries across Big Apple

27 January 2025

Master Drawings New York (MDNY), the major showcase for drawings in the US, returns to the American city from February 1-8.

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Oppenheimer record set among Expressionist portrait successes

27 January 2025

Fellow German artists Beckmann and Dix also starred during auctions held in Vienna and Munich

Jiajing wucai ‘fish’ jars

Sotheby’s results indicate market contraction for fine art across 2024

24 January 2025

Sotheby’s overall sales total for 2024 fell 24% compared with the previous year.

Edward Curtis Three Chiefs

Edward Curtis' 'Three Chiefs' photograph triples estimate at Bonhams Skinner

22 January 2025

Over a 30-year period Edward Curtis (1868–1952) published the largest volume of work photographing indigenous Americans.

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