Sotheby’s welcomed esteemed members of the press in celebration of future art world stars, the newly minted class of auctioneers, hosted by CEO Charles Stewart and Caterina Heil Stewart at Casa Cruz.

Sotheby’s auctioneers have just graduated from our new training program designed to discover and coach the very best candidates to lead our world class auctions.  The graduates bring an impressive wealth of knowledge as they span across various departments within the business including marketing, operations, financial services and Chinese Works of Art. Several of the candidates are multi-lingual and speak Cantonese, Mandarin, French, and Japanese.

The new graduates are particularly interesting as the face of auctions is changing and we are actively building a team that reflects the diversity of the art and artists that come through our doors.  Watching auctions has become a sport since the success of this new format during the pandemic, with auction houses investing in livestream technology and auctioneers playing to a much larger audience. As key players in the art market, we want to play a leading role in cultivating and supporting a diverse talent pipeline -- not just for Sotheby’s but also for the broader arts community.

Several members of the new class of auctioneers have experience in adjacent cultural sectors, bringing a keen understanding of various creative industries and perspectives to the forefront of the modern auction world, highlighting the many new players across industries and how their unique expertise intersects to form the next generation of visionaries, pushing the boundaries in their fields.