Time after time we hear people comment about events that run annually, saying that ⁩t never looked better†or ‘⁩t is much grander than last year.†Without question, both comments apply to the 59th Winter Antiques Show.

Memory and desire, pleasure and persuasion are all rolled up into one in ⁔he Postcard Age: Selection from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection†on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). The exhibition comprises 700 postcards drawn from the promised gift of 100,000 examples to the museum by cosmetics giant Leonard A. Lauder. The exhibition, on view through April 14, is the first to be drawn from Lauder⁳ promised gift and it spans the years from the last decade of the Nineteenth Century until 1939. What is particularly compelling is that every postcard on view holds its own: as a stunning work of art, a sizzling graphic, an historic document or technological innovation. Artists, prominent and obscure, created images for the form in a range of styles. Each merits careful scrutiny.

Paul L. Fierberg, inveterate New Englander and lover of all things maritime, died on January 29.

John P. Richardson was an ardent historian, preservationist, environmentalist and collector of objects relating to Hingham, Mass. So, when his gatherings, which numbered more than 8,000, came to auction at Willis Henry †in three parts, so far †the gallery was packed each time with generations of collectors with local or family connections and some dealers.

The crowd that gathered in the Tiffany Room at the Park Avenue Armory on January 28 to remember Wendell D. Garrett, who died November 14 at 83, was a fraction of the devoted following that Garrett developed over the years but it was representative of the diverse public for whom Garrett⁳ thoughtful interpretation of American arts and letters had deep personal meaning.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present an exhibition of paintings, furniture and works in silver and ivory from Roberta and Richard Huber⁳ collection of Spanish and Portuguese colonial art. ⁊ourneys to New Worlds†will be on view February 16⁍ay 19 in the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building

The Metro Show made its sophomore appearance at Antiques Week with a very open and clean look, with front-to-back aisles and several cross aisles separating the booths, most of which had no side walls. It was an attractive layout, easy to navigate, and it increased the exposure of each display.

It was clear to auctioneer Jim Julia as he compiled the catalog for the February 1 session of Julia⁳ 3-Day Winter Antiques, Fine Art and Asian Auction, that the Korean ten-panel folding screen consigned by a Maryland family was important; it just was not clear to the auctioneer how important the Yi dynasty painted screen was.

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is bringing one of Vincent van Gogh⁳ most famous paintings from the Musée d⁏rsay in Paris to its gallery walls. ⁖an Gogh⁳ Bedroom in Arles†will be on view February 19⁍ay 28 in the Dutch galleries.

A Russian urn from the mid-Nineteenth Century attained $152,500 at Bonhams†fine American and European furniture, silver and decorative arts auction January 24. Overwhelming interest in the urn engaged every available phone line, sparking a lengthy bidding war.