Pick of the week

PAINTING NOSTALGIA Artist Polly Mabel Nicolaou creates ...

From topless staddle stones outperforming complete ones to two versions of the same desk selling on the same day 212 miles apart, bizarre occurrences are par for the course at contents sales

Online galleries have transformed how we discover and collect pieces – these platforms offer a curated selection that’s just a click away

William Blake, Samuel Palmer and Beatrix Potter all inspired Maurice Sendak, as demonstrated by a sale of his own drawings and those he collected

Armigers from the Tudor and Stuart era had their moment last month, with a seal ring linked to Royal Exchange founder Sir Thomas Gresham and a ruffler once owned by philanthropist Sir Edwin Rich causing a stir at auction

Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro spent time in London, but it took James McNeill Whistler to act as artistic bridge with Britain and the ‘sweetened’ Impressionism of Jules Bastien-Lepage to inspire most homegrown painters, says Caroline Bugler