19th Century European Art

Over the years, Cologne auction house Van Ham has achieved high prices for works by Raden Saleh Ben Jaggia.

One of the highlights on the first day of the May 30-31 auction at Grisebach in Berlin is a collection of 33 works on paper from the collection of the one-time Cologne gallery owner Rudolf Zwirner.

The German artist Gabriel von Max (1840-1915) was not only an accomplished painter but also a passionate follower of Darwinism.

To understand how European audiences viewed the Middle East in the 19th century, you could do worse than look at the body of work produced by Belgian artist Jan-Baptist Huysmans (1826-1906)*.

With very few exceptions, the French artist Victor Philippe Lemoine-Benoit devoted almost all of his painting career to one subject: hot-air balloons of the Montgolfière type.

It’s wise to keep a lid on estimates for traditional pictures where condition and market freshness is lacking

Rediscovered work inspired by Goethe emerges at auction in Germany

Early on in his career, which spanned most of the 19th century, Johann Wilhelm Preyer decided to paint only still-lifes. He studied at the academy in Düsseldorf and was one of the leading lights in what was to become the Düsseldorf School of painters.

Running for the first time under new ownership Master Drawings New York (MDNY) produced strong results for many of its exhibitors, including London dealer Guy Peppiatt.

Portrait of monarch impresses as château of the Comtes de Marcellus delivers treasures to auction

A lot in a recent Andrew Jones (25% buyer’s premium) auction that will doubtless merit further research was an early 19th century French self-portrait.

Without doubt, the sensation of the German auction season was the emergence of a sketchbook belonging to the German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich at Grisebach (32/27% buyer’s premium) in Berlin.

On the third day of Austin Auction Gallery’s (22% buyer’s premium) September 22-24 sale this portrait of Napoleon hammered for $15,000 (£12,400) – a multiple of the estimate of $800-1200.

Long before the days of photo-realism, artists created remarkably accurate depictions of their subject matter.

This unframed 8 x 11in (20½ x 28cm) oil sketch of the Swiss village of Dardagny is signed for Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875).

Famous Frenchman has amassed an impressive wide-ranging array of acquisitions over six decades

A drawing of Jean François Millet’s (1814-75) most famous image generated unexpected levels of bidding in Alameda, California.