Americana collectors who have never attended the Original York Antiques Show will find themselves in for a surprise when they finally walk through the doors of this highly regarded event. It ranks among the finest shows of its type in the country. It is bright, big, bountiful, but forget about the ⁂†words: this show earns an A+.

An eleventh-hour settlement will ensure that two iconic Pablo Picasso works stay on in Manhattan museums, where they have hung since the 1960s.

For admirers of Abraham Lincoln, all roads lead to the US capital starting this month. It was here that the unschooled politician from the western frontier guided the nation through its greatest crisis, preserved the union, freed the slaves †and was assassinated. It is fitting, therefore, that a number of museums in Washington, D.C., have organized special exhibitions to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Great Emancipator. Leading the way is the National Museum of American History with a comprehensive exhibition, ⁁braham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life,†that will be on view through 2011. This revelatory show features more than 60 objects associated with Lincoln⁳ life, plus more than 50 portraits, photographs and cartoons. This year⁳ anniversary events offer renewed opportunities to explore the enigma of the complex man many consider the greatest of all Americans.

On February 17, the Morse Museum will open a new long-term exhibition from its collection featuring more than 50 decorative objects †including furniture, lamps and metalware †from the Arts and Crafts movement in America.

At Stella⁳ popular Antiques at the Armory, January 23′5, the show boasted a good opening gate populated by people looking to buy the right thing at the right price.

The Winter Antiques Show, which previewed on Thursday, January 22, and continued through February 1 at the Park Avenue Armory, demonstrated this season, its 55th, why it is the reigning favorite among America⁳ top antiques shows.

The American Antiques Show shone at its January 22′5 edition where dealers worked hard to showcase lots of great material on the floor.

Amid trepidations, market woes, reports of cautious buying and the overall chilling news surrounding the US economic climate, many exhibitors at the Caskey-Lees-produced New York Ceramics Fair were smiling after its five-day run here.

Ralph E. Carpenter, a respected connoisseur and collector of American decorative arts, a leader in architectural preservation and the author of an influential early study of colonial New England furniture, died in Newport on February 2. He was 99.

Martin J. Keane, a respected fishing antiques expert, collector and dealer, died peacefully at his home on January 30.