London

After 49 years of trading in Manhattan, ceramics and glass dealer Leo Kaplan Ltd closed its doors earlier this year.

Simon Berti, chairman of the Art & Antiques division at Antiques Trade Gazette parent Auction Technology Group, has announced that he is stepping down from his role after 20 years “to explore life beyond auctions”.

Pre-Raphaelite artist shunned and persecuted in his time is now a popular auction choice.

Spurred on by Middle Eastern demand, Orientalist art came out top at Christie’s 19th century European & Orientalist Art auction in London.

The most important Greek printing project of the 15th century, and the greatest achievement of the great Venetian printer Aldus Manutius’ Greek publishing programme, was one of the landmark works seen at auction this summer.

A fine copy in a well-preserved dust jacket of DH Lawrence’s The Rainbow of 1915 was sold at a record £13,000 as part of the eighth portion of the ongoing disposal of ‘The Library of an English Bibliophile’ – a sale held by Sotheby’s (25/20/12.9% buyer’s premium) on July 10.

The opening speaker at this year’s Art Business Conference in London will be the minister for arts, heritage and tourism, Michael Ellis.

The first copy to come onto the market since 1895 and one of only six recorded in all, the Breviarum Romanum Glagoliticum printed in Venice in 1493 by Andreas Torresanus de Asula was another highlight of the Christie’s sale of July 11.

Works by the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers continued to outperform the rest of the Victorian art market during the latest round of sales in London. Topping the auctions at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s were two ‘jeune fille fatale’ creations by Pre-Raphaelite latecomer, John William Waterhouse (1849-1917).

London dealer showcases powerful works of an artist fascinated by the human condition

William Martindale holds an exhibition with textile specialist Jacqueline Simcox at Stoppenbach and Delestre during Asian Art in London (November 1-10).

BADA Collection, the boutique fair which was launched by the British Antiques Dealers’ Association last year at the Lanesborough hotel, has been put ‘on hold’ for this autumn.