Europe

The multi-talented Deco designer and artist Jean Dunand (1877-1942) is one of the names celebrated in Christie’s selected design sale in Paris on November 14 with around 20 pieces in different media.

At a time when catering for niche interests is a profitable path for auctioneers, recent sales in Scotland, Ireland and England have shown that the furniture market can still come to life – provided it meets three criteria.

Fourteen unpublished paintings by Maurice Utrillo, the artist renowned for quintessential Paris street scenes, will be coming up for sale on November 23.

A sale of contents of four homes belonging to the late Pierre Bergé is to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s Paris rooms in association with auction house Pierre Bergé & Associes.

An ensemble of fans both Oriental and Occidental is the subject of the dedicated sale organised by Coutau-Bégarie that takes place at Drouot on November 19. Examples date from the 17th century through to the early years of the 20th.

A classic Art Nouveau display cabinet by Emile Gallé is part of a collection of furniture by Gallé and Majorelle assembled over half a century ago to be offered for sale by Ivoire Reims on November 18.

This little oil on canvas showing a seated lion watching the setting sun from the top of a rocky plateau is evocatively titled Les Deux Majestés and is a work by the 19th century Orientalist Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904).

Representing just a fraction of the international art market and often overshadowed by the demand for 2D art, Irish sculpture has undergone a quieter recovery.

Tribal art is very much a strength of the Paris art market, with sales taking place throughout the year.

This small-scale, 17th-18th century, Italian vanitas of a skull carved from Cararra marble measures 7½ x 9½in (19 x 24cm).

While demand is encouraging, a scarcity of high-quality work is hitting the supply side

Catching the eye in a German auction was a fine example of the most beautiful of all piscatorial plate books.

Since the first Festival of Music and the Arts took place in 1951, the annual Wexford Festival Opera in the south-east Irish town has specialised in neglected works and has become one of the world’s leading opera festivals.

Science fiction is the theme for the 110-dealer BiblioMania in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, held at the Espace Champerret from Wednesday to Sunday, October 17-21.

The Viennese auction house Im Kinsky has acquired a broad selection of works of art for its sale of October 23-24. The oldest objects are three Apulian terracotta ewers (oinochoe) from around 315-310BC.

Even when the Cold War was at its height there were, admittedly rare, possibilities for commercial cooperation between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

A rare example of Bauhaus design is coming up for sale at Bassenge in Berlin in the auction of October 16-18.