London

The latest series of Impressionist & Modern and Contemporary art auctions in London showed a dramatic improvement on the equivalent sales last year and the overall premium-inclusive total represented a record in terms of sterling.

A painting by George Stubbs previously believed to be a copy will be offered by The Parker Gallery at BADA 2017 opening in Chelsea this week.

Sim Fine Art has made its second sale to a major London institution in two years with the sale of a painting the Geffrye Museum.

The news of the impending closure of Christie’s South Kensington may not have come as a great surprise but, without doubt, its demise seems like an ‘end of an era’ moment.

A 1936 Lagonda Rapier barn find will be among the lots at the Bonhams sale of the new Lord Harlech’s family collection.

King Richard III is the Marmite Monarch. You love him or you hate him. On one hand he is regarded as a monster, on the other as misunderstood and unfairly maligned.

As the market changes, salerooms come and go. Few have come and are soon to go like Christie’s South Kensington. But the forces behind the impending demise of the once-trailblazing auction house have been in the works for some time.

Christie’s is proposing to close its auctions in South Kensington.

Lord Ashcroft has added another Victoria Cross to his mightily impressive and ever-growing collection. He bought the VC awarded to Yorkshire hero George Sanders for bravery at the first day of the Somme in 1916 and other honours Sanders had earned, including a Military Cross.

An upcoming exhibition at M&L Fine Art features the ceramics and sculpture of Lucio Fontana, the artist best remembered for his slash paintings.

A bronze Etruscan statuette that was stolen from Berlin’s Antikensammlung during the Second World War has been returned after the intervention of London dealers Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch.

New to the summer calendar this year is ‘A Collectors' Paradise,’ a multi-dealer selling exhibition held over the three floors of the Brian Haughton Gallery in St James’s.

A shimmering floral landscape by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was knocked down at £42.5m at Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist & Modern art in London on March 1.

Christie’s is looking to repeat its success by making a bumper price for a piece of medieval tomb sculpture in London this summer.

It ain’t rocket science: rarity adds value. While various other factors come into play, the number of a particular item in existence is a clear driver of auction prices, and in militaria the defence of Rorke’s Drift is a classic example.

The annual summer initiative ‘Brown’s London Art Weekend’, showcasing exhibitions, talks and tours in West End art galleries and auction houses, has announced a major rebranding and partnership.

A new art advisory group has been formed to help ease the pitfalls of buying and selling art and antiques.

The UK government has passed the third reading of the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill, opposing amendments called for by the art and antiques trade.

Financier Falcon Fine Art has completed its first art lending deal in Belgium. The firm helped a collector in Belgium borrow against the value of a collection of 19th century “museum-quality” paintings and sculpture.