The middle years of the Nineteenth Century continue to challenge scholars of American decorative arts, who have never found a way to neatly sum up the decades between the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

“When they said I was ahead of my times, I said, ‘No I’m not, I’m of my time, you are behind the times,”‘ Man Ray once said. And his times were electrifying if not, in the beginning at least, electrified.

Oskar Schlemmer’s (1888-1943) “Halbfigur diagonal (Half-Figure Diagonal),” painted in oil over pencil on paper in 1941, was knocked down for a winning $380,000 at Nagel’s recent auction.

Topping $620,000 for more than 1,700 lots offered, Clars Auction Gallery’s two-day spring estate auction was its highest grossing April auction ever.

Smythe’s spring Currency & Stock and Bond Auction, consisting of 1,400-plus lots, realized more than $1 million.

“From Wood to Architecture: Recent Designs from Finland” takes a fresh look at the possibilities offered by the oldest of building materials: wood.

The Zimmerman House, the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed residence open to the public in New England, conducts tours now through January.

As ambassador of the newly formed United States of America to France from 1776 to 1785, Benjamin Franklin captivated the citizens of Paris upon his arrival and was quickly elevated to celebrity status.

Six times each year the South of England showground becomes the hallowed grounds for antiques hunters and sellers at the Ardingly International Antiques and Collectors Fair.

Frank H. Boos, 70, president of the Frank H. Boos Gallery in Troy, Mich. and known for the colorful collection of bow ties he wore on the PBS television show Antiques Roadshow, died on May 9.