The best of Masterpiece 2017
There’s something for all tastes at this year’s art fair, from ancient statuary to bright abstract paintings
These French firedogs have an impeccable pedigree
The firedogs made for the French couturier and collector Jacques Doucet are the epitome of art deco style
In London’s salerooms, bigger is no longer better
Auction highlights this month include a dramatic plaster relief in Paris, and a diminutive but vibrant Van Gogh in London
As visceral a painting as you will ever encounter…
Max Beckmann’s ‘Bird’s Hell’, a terrifying vision of cruelty painted after he fled Nazi Germany, is to be sold at auction for the first time
Gilded glass from the world’s most glamorous ship
The legendary S.S. Normandie was lost to fire in the 1940s, but relics from its luxury interior survive – including these verre églomisé panels
Modern masters lead the way in New York
Auction highlights this month include a Twombly masterpiece that has never appeared at auction before and a striking portrait by Picasso
Early maiolica has it all – even humour
These supposedly ‘primitive’ ceramics from late medieval and early Renaissance Italy are fresh, inventive and fun
The unsung beauty of Chinese cinnabar lacquer
Lacquer is an extemely difficult material to work with, but the results can be extraordinary
Rare Asian art comes to the block at Sotheby’s
Auction highlights this month include an outstanding example of early Ming porcelain and a rare Nicholas Lancret painting
The Della Robbia that escaped disaster
This glazed terracotta roundel by Andrea della Robbia was made for a palace that was promptly destroyed
Picasso’s printmakers step into the spotlight
The Crommelynck brothers worked with the greatest artists of the 20th century to produce extraordinary prints, some of which will soon come to auction
The Virgin and Child who went under cover
The bizarre story of how an altarpiece by Hugo van der Goes was transformed into a marriage portrait of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
Rothko, Richter and Rauschenberg star in London’s contemporary art auctions
Auction highlights this month include a surprisingly good group of American paintings at Christie’s London
David Hockney’s art used to be cheap as chips
In 1954, the young David Hockney made a lithograph of his local chippie and gave it to the owners. It hung above the fryer for years
Why Désiré Feuerle displays his art in a Berlin bunker
Désiré Feuerle talks to Apollo about his collection of Asian and contemporary art and its unusual underground home
A swashbuckling tale of trade and trickery
In 1804, a fleet of English merchant vessels fooled the French navy into retreat. Each captain was presented with an exquisite sword for their troubles
An epic Magritte is set to be the highlight of Christie’s ‘Art of the Surreal’ sale
Auction highlights this month include works by Morisot and Magritte at Christie’s, and Sotheby’s inaugural ‘Erotic: Passion and Desire’ sale
Could hipsters save the antique furniture trade?
Antique furniture has been unpopular for years – but tastes are changing
Why the market for Outsider Art is booming in New York
Prices for Outsider Art are now close to matching those fetched by the mainstream
Sotheby’s takes a risk on a potential Velázquez
A ‘bodegón’ thought to be by Velázquez, a Tiepolo head study, and a stag-antler chair are just some of the highlights headed to auction this month
Christie’s offers the makings of a Burne-Jones masterpiece
Not one, but two groups of preparatory work for Edward Burne-Jones’s monumental painting ‘The Golden Stairs’ have made it into the same sale
A marvellous Murillo comes to Christie’s
Auction highlights this month include a masterful but unfashionable Murillo, and a captivating Egyptian sculpture of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet
Why a sleeping hermaphrodite is causing a stir at Christie’s
Horace Walpole’s aunt once quipped that the hermaphrodite was ‘the only happy couple she ever saw’. A bronze variation on the theme comes to auction soon…
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Something has gone very wrong at Christie’s
The auction house’s decision to close its South Kensington saleroom and scale back operations in Amsterdam smacks of corporate short-termism