Europe

A Louis XV period rococo commode made in 1744 for the Château de Versailles has returned home after more than 30 years out of France.

Our listing of British and Irish book auctions taking place from July 16-27, 2019.

Far and away the highest result for an Asian work of art in recent sales in Germany, Austria and Switzerland was the spectacular price of SFr4.2m (£3.3m) achieved by Koller in Zurich for a Chinese bronze censer (see front page, ATG No 2397).

Since the late 1880s, opera fans have braved the often intense heat of the summer to visit the Wagner festival in Bayreuth.

The Patriotic War of 1812 stirred up powerful feelings of national pride in Russia.

At a €2.7m (£2.45m) hammer price, a 17th century Flemish flower painting was the toast of the Old Master picture results in Paris this year. It was also the highest price recorded at the Drouot auction centre so far for 2019.

Stand-out lot in a recent Irish sale was one of the 100 special copies of Ulysses printed on Dutch handmade paper by Van Gelder that James Joyce signed on publication in Paris in 1922.

Spectators at an auction in Zürich were left flabbergasted when a Quattrocento panel painting with a SFr5000-7000 estimate catalogued as ‘in the style of Sandro Botticelli (c.1445-1510)’ was knocked down at SFr6.4m (£5.16m) after an intense 10-minute bidding battle.

In September the Paris auction scene wakes up from its long summer slumber to get back into action for the approaching autumn and winter season.

September will be a key date in the diary for the French auction firm Osenat, which has announced its expansion with an extra venue and several new departments.

A trio of art and antiques events coming up soon in Belgium.

A selection of art and antiques events taking place in Paris in September.

'La Biennale Paris' and 'Parcours des Mondes' bring the dealing scene in the French capital back to life after summer slumbers, while auction houses also rise to the occasion. We take an early glimpse at what will be on offer for the visitor in September.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from July 9-19, 2019.

The painting dubbed the ‘Toulouse Caravaggio’ that was snubbed by the Louvre in Paris could now go on show in a museum after a private sale.

From the 18th century onwards, the city of Birmingham was a major centre of the British gun-making industry.

Views of Venice figure prominently in a collection of 42 Old Master drawings from the 18th century, being sold by Metz in Heidelberg on July 20.