The winds of change are heavy at Sotheby’s. Amongst plans to restructure fees and move their Hong Kong headquarters, personnel changes are also occurring. Sotheby’s current Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art Alex Branczik will be returning to London, as Christie’s veteran Elaine Holt takes over his role.
Alex Branczik will be returning to London to take over the position of Chairman and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art, at Sotheby’s Europe. Also, returning to their previous city will be Max Moore who will be in private sales leading Sotheby’s new “Sealed” auction format.
The change will be occurring at an interesting time for the British-founded auction house as this summer they will be moving their Hong Kong hub headquarters from One Pacific Place in Admiralty to Landmark Chater in Central.
On the left: the outgoing Alex Branczik | On the right: the incoming Elaine Holt
Holt is no stranger to such a position, however. She served from 2013 to 2023 at Christie’s in positions such as International Director of the Impressionist and Modern Art Department, and Deputy Chairman for Asia, having been scouted for Christie’s by Giovanna Bertazzoni, the current Vice-Chairman, 20th - 21st Century Department.
Before this career at Christie’s, Holt studied fine arts in the United States before returning to Asia. She worked at two galleries in her time, one of which was as a curator for Opera Gallery. She was also the Hong Kong executive for a major Taiwanese auction house, Ravenel.
At Christie’s, Holt specialized in Impressionist and modern art, an interest she brought over from her time at university in America. In the past, she managed to secure for Christie’s several major clients as well as maintain interest in Impressionism, in a market that is not used to this kind of artwork.
Elaine Holt bidding on behalf of her client on the phone at a Christie’s Auction
Such skills and background in the industry will be vital to Sotheby’s as their business radically changes, especially in Hong Kong. Aside from moving to a new office space this summer, new staff are also inbound at the auction house.
Additionally, both Joseph Yang and Boris Cornelissen will be joining the contemporary art department. Yang joins Sotheby's after 10 years at Poly Auction Hong Kong, where in 2022 he was promoted to Co-Head of the Modern and Contemporary Art Department, alongside June Hsu.
Meanwhile, Cornelissen is rejoining Sotheby's following a 4-year stint running his own art gallery in Australia. He was previously the Deputy Director and Specialist of Contemporary Art, at Sotheby's London.
Branczik and Moore will be departing Hong Kong after spending three years in Sotheby's Asian hub office. When Sotheby's rainmakers Yuki Terase and Vinci Chang, who led the contemporary and modern departments respectively, departed Branzick's new role consolidated the management of both those departments.
Holt will thus be the second person to take over this newly merged Chairman position and will be leading a team across nine regional locations, including Felix Kwok, Head of Modern Art for Sotheby's Asia.
Max Moore who will be returning to New York to run Sotheby's "Sealed"