A new collaborative live auction platform, ebay.com/sothebys, will give eBay’s enormous base of buyers the chance to browse and bid at Sotheby’s, beginning with an April 1 auction of photographs, followed by a sale of New York-themed material on April 2. Most of the lots at both events are estimated at under $20,000, though the

Art reflects life, and it turns out that reflection doesn’t stop with paint on canvas or figures carved out of stone…it continues right down to the ledger books and bills of sale – to economics. Nowhere is that parallel more startling than a glimpse at the fourth annual Art Market Report, an annual survey of

Inside Robbig-Munchen (Booth 116), arguably the most elaborate at this year’s edition of The European Fine Art Fair. Contemporary Art, some of it barely dry, has gripped the attention of many young U.S. collectors, but the old money is being spent elsewhere. The European Fine Art Fair, a huge event that had been held in

The annual European Fine Art Fair, or Tefaf, in the cavernous Maastricht Exhibition and Conference Center, is a good place to check the values of that “elsewhere.” The fair is the world’s premiere commercial event devoted to pre-21st-century art and objects. Last year, it attracted 74,000 people and curators from the J. Paul Getty, Frick,

It may only be 28 years old, but The European Fine Art Fair in the Dutch town of Maastricht has about it what antiques dealers refer to as a “patina”: the appealing gloss that age and venerability can bring. This year the fair, known by its acronym Tefaf and often referred to simply as Maastricht,

Esther Bell has been named the new curator in charge of European paintings at the Fine Arts Museums of San FranciscoRandy Dodson/Fine Arts Museums of S.F. Growing up in Dallas, Esther Bell loved all kinds of art, but it wasn’t until she began to travel through Europe that her interest in 17th and 18th century

AMSTERDAM — In November 1641, the Spanish trade galleon Nuestra Señora de la Limpia y Pura Concepción sank just off the coast of what is now the Dominican Republic, taking with it one of the richest cargoes ever to set sail for Europe from the New World. It was not until 1993, with the help

The 27th edition of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) opened to the public on March 14 in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The show, which is widely regarded as the world’s leading art fair, brings together 275 of the finest art and antiques dealers from around the globe. Offerings include everything from Old Master paintings and

MAASTRICHT, the Netherlands — Every March museum directors and curators from around the world flock to the European Fine Art Fair, held in a soulless convention center here. They come to look at the art, gauge the market and network with colleagues, collectors and trustees. But this year, barely 24 hours after the preview on

MAASTRICHT, THE NETHERLANDS — The European Fine Art Fair, which closes Sunday, delivers a striking message. What is conventionally called the art market is a myth. There are as many micro-markets as there are categories in art and they do not follow the same patterns. Consider “Antiquities,” a label that covers anything belonging to the