The latest Movers & Shakers.
Heritage Auctions
Alastair McCrea has joined Heritage Auctions. Image: Heritage Auctions / HA.com.
US firm Heritage Auctions has recruited Alastair McCrea as European director of entertainment and pop culture to join its London office.
He joins from Ewbank’s Auctions of Send, Surrey, where he worked for 12 years and became a partner.
Joe Maddalena, Heritage executive vice president, said: “He has an extensive track record within the entertainment collectables community and has spent years developing relationships throughout the continent, which will allow Heritage to bring in new consignments while also helping to expand our community of European clients.”
Heritage recently moved to a larger London office in Hanover Square, Mayfair. The venue previews upcoming auction highlights from across its more than 50 departments.
It has offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Roseberys
Ben Griffiths has joined Roseberys.
South London auction house Roseberys has appointed a new member to its leadership team following the departure of joint managing director Vicki Wonfor after 15 years with the firm.
Ben Griffiths has joined as senior business manager working with Ian Cadzow, chairman and joint managing director, alongside its existing senior team of Peter Greenway, director and head of probate, Marcus Grey, director and head of pictures, Bill Forrest, associate director and head of Asian art, and Alice Bailey, associate director and head of antiquities, Islamic and Indian art.
Griffiths joins from Amazon where he worked for two years and prior to this spent 11 years as operations manager at Birmingham auction house Fellows. Prior to this he worked at professional services firm Ernst & Young.
Speaking of his experience, Griffiths said he “didn’t follow a traditional path” and working at Amazon was a “big challenge, it’s like an auction house on a grand scale!”.
On joining Roseberys, he said: “There is a great culture in place and with my background leading high-performing teams I am very excited about the opportunity to contribute to their ongoing expansion and success."
Cadzow added: “We hope to continue our growth trajectory and as Ben oversaw and drove a period of significant growth at Fellows we are confident he has the ability to do that again. I am sure it is just the challenge he will enjoy getting his teeth into.
“We value the recent experience he gained at Amazon and are very interested to see if their innovation and process skills can be beneficial in the auction world.”
Cadzow said it his ambition to move into the chairman role and over the next 6-12 months for Griffiths to move into the managing director role. Griffiths joins on May 13.
Vicki Wonfor, who has left Roseberys.
Wonfor joined Roseberys in 2009 as an administrator and worked her way up, being promoted to managing director in 2018. She will announce her new appointment in due course.
Bonhams
Louise Arén is now CEO of Bonhams Nordics.
Bonhams has created a new role and appointed Louise Arén as CEO of Bonhams Nordics. She joined the firm when Bonhams bought Bukowskis in 2022, where she is CEO. She will remain in this role at Bukowskis while taking on the expanded leadership role.
The promotion is to boost “closer ties” between Bukowskis in Stockholm and Helsinki and Bruun Rasmussen in Copenhagen (also bought by Bonhams in 2022). Bonhams said it was a part of its continued “European expansion strategy and digital focus”.
Jakob Dupont, CEO and managing director of Bruun Rasmussen, is stepping down from his position, and Arén will be interim managing director of Bruun Rasmussen during the hiring process for a successor.
Arén will report to Bonhams executive chairman Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard. He said: “This is an important part of our strategy to further the development of the Nordic region through closer collaboration and knowledge sharing. Bukowskis and Bruun Rasmussen are two iconic brands and by playing to their different strengths, Bonhams will be in a unique position to drive growth.”
Olympia Auctions
Josef Huber joined Olympia Auctions.
Olympia Auctions of west London has been expanding recently and has hired a new clock specialist and a head of design.
Josef Huber has joined to run a new 20th century design department.
He previously worked as a specialist and head of 20th century design sales at Bonhams followed by Sotheby’s. He recently formed his own historical design consultancy working with private clients as well as public bodies and museums. Previously Huber worked for architecture and design practices including Ron Arad Associates and David Chipperfield Architects before establishing his own practice, Huber Architects.
At Olympia Auctions the 20th century design sales will include furniture, design objects, studio ceramics, glass, fabrics, prints and wall decoration, books and publications as well as audio equipment. The department’s first auction is scheduled for autumn 2024 at the sales ‘hub’ in Blythe Road, West Kensington.
Jonathan Hills has joined Olympia Auctions.
Clock specialist Jonathan Hills has also joined Olympia as a consultant.
Having worked in regional salerooms and coming from a horological family, he became head of clocks at Sotheby’s in Sussex in 1992, moving to Sotheby’s Olympia in 2002 and to New Bond Street in 2006, remaining as a director and senior clock specialist until earlier this year. He is a past master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, a member of the British Horological Institute and a member of the Antiquarian Horological Society.
At Olympia Auctions clocks are sold in the European Works of Art sales with the next taking place on May 23, followed by November 21. Hills is searching for consignments of good English and Continental clocks from the 17th to 19th centuries.
Phillips
Phillips has made a series of appointments in Asia. Cindy Yen has been promoted to deputy chairwoman in Taiwan while Dina Zhang has joined the company as head of Modern & Contemporary art in China, based in Beijing.
Yen joined Phillips in 2016 as one of the founding members of the company’s Asia team. Zhang was at Christie’s for 12 years prior to joining Phillips.
In Hong Kong Shanne Ng and Janet Lam are now senior specialists for jewellery. Ng joins from Sotheby’s Hong Kong and Lam was promoted, having joined Phillips in 2023.
Weschler's Auctioneers & Appraisers
The Weschler's Auctioneers & Appraisers team.
US auction house Weschler's is relocating in the autumn. Its offices and galleries will move in September to 515 Dover Road, less than two miles from its current location in Rockville, in Maryland.
The new location will provide three galleries, two loading zones, office space and ample parking.
Its current office and gallery spaces will be closed between August 26-September 6. Its first Metro Online auction at its new Dover Road location will take place on September 10.
The firm will host an ‘open house’ and ribbon cutting event at the new location on September 14.
Lévy Gorvy Dayan
Lévy Gorvy Dayan has relocated its London gallery to the Empress Club at 35 Dover Street in Mayfair. It will hold a solo exhibition of new paintings by New York-based artist N Dash as a launch event for the new space. The exhibition runs until June 12.
