News

Ebay, flourishing survivors of the e-commerce boom and bust, have again out-performed forecasts, showing continued strong growth in the second quarter of 2003. The California-based company, who now include the electronic-payments business PayPal in their revenues, showed profits of $109.7m on a turnover of $509.3m.

Planning to shortly reopen their Marlborough saleroom, Hamptons have appointed John Haycraft, formerly of Phillips and Dreweatt Neate, as senior valuer and auctioneer.

SPAIN: The spring and early summer auctions in Madrid were notable for one outstanding sale held at Alcalá Subastas, which generated not only a very large total but also some controversy. Alcalá Subastas (15% buyer’s premium) counts on the considerable expertise of Richard de Willermin as their paintings expert.

FROM August 27 to 31 The Australian Antique Dealers Association hold their third annual AADA Antiques and Fine Art Fair at what the association’s president Charles Aronson assures me is Sydney’s hottest venue, Wharf 8 of the city’s Darling Harbour Passenger Terminal.

Coming up in new York: A large complement of classic American posters by James Montgomery Flagg are featured among the WWI and WWII images in Swann Galleries’ annual summer sale of Vintage Posters in the Big Apple on August 6.

There were some interesting signs of the times when the superbly preserved Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-93) canvas, Autumn Gold, right, came under the hammer with an estimate of £40,000-70,000 on the first day of the Newcastle sale held by Anderson & Garland (15% buyer’s premium) on June 17-20.

Following the Camard auction, the most important 20th Century Decorative Arts sale of the Paris summer season, was that staged by ArtCurial (20.33/17.94/11.96% buyer’s premium) at the Hôtel Dassault on July 2.