Our pick from this week's auctions and exhibitions

The British auction house brings in former Sotheby’s financial executive Bruno Vinciguerra as part of the deal

Detroit house was saved in 2016 by the US artist Ryan Mendoza and Parks’s niece Rhea McCauley

Rockefeller auction plus leap in private and online sales drive 26% increase

A “purr-fect” ending to the story of the missing pottery object found in the collection of the artist’s secret granddaughter

Tacca's Hercules is star of the bronzes, while Carracci's military portrait and Rembrandt's print find favour where Rubens's daughter flounders in £31.1m sale

No big hitters, but overall quality and new buyers from Asia and Latin America buoyed £42.6m auction, with £5.3m record for Canova set in day sale

Bronze and marble take centre stage during Old Masters sales week, although Dresden Mars returns home without going on the block at Sotheby's

Sotheby’s withdrew bronze sculpture of Mars from auction at last minute

Christie’s introduces day sale format and established names give way to new talent

Artist was 80 years old when he began the painting of a former Tate cataloguer

The institution failed to meet its $55m target at last month's auctions

The Romanian painter’s prices have increased 160-fold over the past decade. But who, or what, is behind this steep rise?

Sotheby's sale fell below estimate while Christie’s provided some cheer, showing there is still money in Monet – but only the right one

The art world has yet to tackle issues around works like Picasso’s $115m child-prostitute portrait

Sotheby’s auction includes personal works by Hirst gifted to Dunphy, or sketched on the back of restaurant menus

But the watercolours are currently at the centre of a closely watched restitution lawsuit

How soon is too soon? Private collectors are selling off works as little as a few weeks after lending them to high-profile shows

Belinda Neumann-Donnelly claims the work could have made an extra $15m if Hubert Neumann had not tried to block its sale

Object was returned to consigner not museum from where it was looted at the end of Second World War

Aguttes sold the fossil to an anonymous buyer, who may name the new species, despite protests from paleontologists

Hostile relations between Russia and the West following attempted poisoning of former MI6 spy may dampen bidding at London's Russian sales

The Chinese-French Modern master continues to lead art market in Hong Kong

The work’s owner, a retired nurse, chose not to attend the sale in person due to nerves “in case it was worth something”

The work is due to be auctioned in Toronto with a high estimate of $135,000—and will fund a Mediterranean cruise for the owner and her friend

Still no evening auction, but blue-chip artists make way for fresh talent in new day sale format

Blaming an ingrained culture, auction houses vow to correct imbalance in women’s pay and representation in the highest ranks

The US artist dominated the top prices during New York sales series, where the commercial appeal of attractive subjects showed through in prices

After a difficult first series of auctions last December, Drouot holds more sales in June to disperse holdings of bankrupt French firm