Art Market

Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) Pablo Picasso (1937).

Picasso’s portrait of dying love promises to fetch a high price

The artist once said that ‘it must be painful for a girl to see in a painting that she is on the way out’

9 Feb 2018
Intimation (2014), El Anatsui. Axel Vervoordt Gallery (price on application)

Highlights of BRAFA art fair

From a 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite to an array of modern and contemporary art, here’s what not to miss this year

24 Jan 2018

A derelict distillery becomes a canalside arts centre

Axel Vervoordt has turned an industrial ‘wasteland’ into a haven for displaying some of his favourite art

17 Jan 2018

Can commercial galleries thrive outside major market centres?

More contemporary galleries than ever are opening regional outposts, or moving out of London altogether

17 Jan 2018
Proserpine (detail; 1878), Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Agnews (price on application)

‘There is enduring interest in the stories of the Pre-Raphaelites’

The market for the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers is steady and growing, bucking the trend for Victorian painting

15 Jan 2018
An exotic dog, the Mexican Xoloitzcuintli (c. 1580–1600), Prague School.

A Mexican dog in an early modern menagerie

How an ancient breed of hairless dog made its way into the Habsburg art collection

12 Jan 2018

A pair of Easter Island treasures emerge

A sleek, modern aesthetic ups the selling power of a pair of Polynesian dance paddles

8 Dec 2017
Rear Nude with Raised Arms (1930s), Lotte Laserstein.

The shows not to miss during London Art Week Winter

Why it’s time to wrap up warmly in the capital and get gallery hopping

28 Nov 2017
Bust of Joachim Murat (1813), Antonio Canova. Image courtesy Christie's

Canova’s lost portrait bust of Joachim Murat has come to light

Until recently, experts were unsure where this extraordinary portrait bust of Napoleon’s brother-in-law had ended up, or whether it had survived at all

14 Nov 2017
Pair of caparisoned horses, China, Northern Qi period (550–577 AD), ht. 63cm. Eskenazi (price on application)

The best of Asian Art in London

The 20th edition of AAL proves that the appetite for classical Asian art amongst dealers and collectors remains insatiable

6 Nov 2017
Lampi (Flashes) (detail; 1909–10), Luigi Russolo. Galleria dello Scudo at Flashback

Flashback to the future

For its fifth edition, Turin’s Flashback art fair has taken a sci-fi turn

31 Oct 2017

Legal pitfalls that all emerging artists should watch out for

Legal wrangles almost always curb creativity, so artists should avoid the hidden pitfalls of the art market

30 Oct 2017
Still Life with Lemons (late 1640s), Giovanna Garzoni. Galerie Sanct Lucas

Can TEFAF New York Fall reinvigorate interest in older art?

The fair’s second autumn edition in New York builds on last year’s success – and includes some extraordinary exhibits

24 Oct 2017
Iznik pottery tile spandrel fragment (c. 1560–80), Turkey. Sotheby's London, £7,000–10,000. © Sotheby's

Howard Hodgkin’s collection comes to auction

The painter amassed a huge variety of bold and fascinating artworks over the years – many of which are soon to be sold at Sotheby’s

16 Oct 2017
Nicholas and Alex Logsdail, respectively the founder and international director of Lisson Gallery. Photo: Rob Chamorro

From success to succession at contemporary galleries

Contemporary galleries have long relied on a personal way of conducting business. Can such a model survive?

11 Oct 2017

‘Anyone who is interested in the Renaissance should be interested in medals’

It may be a small and specialist market, but it is still possible to find exquisite portrait medals at affordable prices

Michael Garnette Sittin’. © Hassan Hajjaj. Special Projects, 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair

The best of October’s international art fairs

A round-up of events, from Frieze London and its many satellite shows to a celebration of flower power in San Francisco

5 Oct 2017
Camp Forestia (1996), Peter Doig. Christie's London, estimate: £14m–£18m

London’s major modern and contemporary sales

Auction highlights in October include a dramatic Jenny Saville painting, a late Philip Guston work, and rich Islamic textiles

2 Oct 2017
Inscribed Apis Bull, Late Period, 26th–30th Dynasty, c. 664–343 BC, Egyptian. Ariadne Galleries

Exhibitors get creative for the sixth edition of Frieze Masters

Highlights from this year’s fair, which encourages contemporary art buyers to cross over into older art

28 Sep 2017
An Allegory of Love (c. 1520), Bernardino Licinio. Robilant + Voena (€750,000)

Florence’s art and antiques fair is on fine form

The Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato di Firenze has upped its game under Fabrizio Moretti’s leadership

21 Sep 2017
Christie’s in South Kensington in 2005.

Small auction houses move in on Christie’s old turf

When Christie’s announced the closure of its South Kensington saleroom, it was inevitable that rival auction houses would start circling

14 Sep 2017
Self–portrait aged 59 in a grey coat (1793), Joseph Wright of Derby. The Parker Gallery at LAPADA

A quick tour of the autumn art fairs

LAPADA returns to London, Brussels gears up for its inaugural Fine Art Fair, and Fine Art Asia opens its doors in Hong Kong

12 Sep 2017
Jeune garcçon endormi, à mi–hauteur, profil gauche, (detail), Jean–Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805). Galerie Eric Coatelem (price on application)

The best of the new Biennale Paris

The Biennale des Antiquaires returns in its new guise as the Biennale Paris with an impressive showing of French fine and decorative arts

7 Sep 2017
Rob Weisberg, CEO of Invaluable

Why it’s time for auction houses to start talking to each other

Rob Weisberg, CEO of Invaluable, discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the auction sector

6 Sep 2017