Features

The starting point for the careers of many of the most successful Post-war German artists was the group ZERO which came into existence in the late 1950s.

It was a white-glove result for the sale of works from the collection of André Mourgues at Sotheby’s Paris (25/20/10.9% buyer’s premium plus 1% overhead premium) where the 79 lots raised a premium-inclusive total that was just a shade under €10m.

The catalogue cover lot for the sale of Contemporary Art at Aguttes in Neuilly on April 28 will be this 2ft 7in x 2ft 5½in (78.5 x 75cm) acrylic on panel from 1983 by Victor Vasarely (1906-97) titled Pereg.

The toast of Briscadieu’s (23% buyer’s premium) sale in Bordeaux on April 9 was this freeform ceramic wall sculpture by the French ceramicist Georges Jouve (1910-40).

The Modern British Art sale at Woolley & Wallis on May 31 offers family photographs that come by descent from the war poet Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967).

Potter & Potter’s early spring signature Circus, Sideshow and Oddities Sale in Chicago features a collection of photographs of such subjects, plus theatrical images, amassed by collector and historian Gary Bart.

This 19th century albumen print is by the pioneering French photographer Gustave le Gray (1820-84).

The 19th & 20th Century Photography sale at Dominic Winter on May 18 includes several works by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79).

On June 13 the Paris auction house Millon is selling items from the collection of Lili Grenier, celebrated artist’s model and muse and friend of some of the most famous artists of the late 19th century including Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Two transatlantic spring fairs bring the twin collecting areas of historical photography and photographica into focus in the spring.

British photographer Bert Hardy (1913-95) is best remembered for his contributions to Picture Post, the UK’s pioneering photojournalistic magazine of the mid-20th century.

These two salt prints from waxed paper negatives by Roger Fenton (1819-69) carry an estimate of £1000-2000 at Cheffins in Cambridge on April 28.

The Fine Photographica sale at Flints in Thatcham, Berkshire, on April 23 includes this Ansco Photo Vanity 'spy' camera, estimated at £800-1200.

North Yorkshire saleroom Tennants is selling this Kemp & Co field camera with ‘tropical’ mahogany casing and brass fittings, with an estimate of £150-250.

It was supposedly as a result of a bet whether it was possible to make a camera that could fit into a cigarette packet that Noel Pemberton Billing (1881-1948) began work on a miniature, collapsible camera that would accept 35mm film.

The photographica department at Chiswick Auctions will be taking over the firm’s South Kensington gallery for the duration of May when highlights from the 19th & 20th Century Photography sale on May 24 will be on view.

By the 1850s, tourist travel to Middle East created strong demand for photographs as souvenirs.

The sale of Photographica & Cameras at Special Auction Services in Newbury on April 26 features this complete set of 'Tour Of The World' stereoviews by the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania.

The largest showground fairs are so extensive that it would be impossible to browse items on all the stands in one day. IACF’s Newark Antiques Fair, for example, is held on an 84-acre site with up to 2500 stands.

When Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger founded photo-sharing app Instagram in 2010 they probably did not expect that 12 years later it would have become a platform for selling antiques.