
African & Oceanic Art
While the inauguration of the department can be traced back to the early 1970s, it is the sale of the James Hooper collection that established Christie’s as one of the leading actors on the market of African, Oceanic and North American art. The mythical Hooper collection, offered for sale over several years between 1976 and 1979, mirrors the spirit of Christie’s auctions in the field to this day. As a result of five decades of professionalism, dedicated labour and passion, our house has sold some of the finest and highly prized classical works of art from the cultural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and the Southern Pacific.
Under the supervision of Hermione Waterfield, the first woman appointed as Director of an African and Oceanic art department in 1976, and William Fagg, who joined Christie’s after a long and distinguished curatorial career focused on African Art at the British Museum, Christie’s was the first auction house to introduce the practice of scholarly notes in its catalogues. This tradition, which honours the art historical and academic importance of African and Oceanic Art, continues to this day and Christie’s commitment to exceptional expertise lies at the heart of our long-standing success and leadership in this field.
Dedicated auctions of African and Oceanic Art are held in Paris, New York and online. Our live sales and exhibitions take place alongside Christie’s sales of Modern & Contemporary Art and Design, drawing on the complementary nature of these fields and collectors’ appreciation across these categories.
As constant innovators, we offer collectors a passionate and selective approach to buying and selling art in this category, leading to exceptional results and world-record prices. Our global team of specialists is always available for free and confidential valuations of individual works or collections. Please do not hesitate to get in touch to discuss buying or selling at auction, online or through Private Sales.
Under the supervision of Hermione Waterfield, the first woman appointed as Director of an African and Oceanic art department in 1976, and William Fagg, who joined Christie’s after a long and distinguished curatorial career focused on African Art at the British Museum, Christie’s was the first auction house to introduce the practice of scholarly notes in its catalogues. This tradition, which honours the art historical and academic importance of African and Oceanic Art, continues to this day and Christie’s commitment to exceptional expertise lies at the heart of our long-standing success and leadership in this field.
Dedicated auctions of African and Oceanic Art are held in Paris, New York and online. Our live sales and exhibitions take place alongside Christie’s sales of Modern & Contemporary Art and Design, drawing on the complementary nature of these fields and collectors’ appreciation across these categories.
As constant innovators, we offer collectors a passionate and selective approach to buying and selling art in this category, leading to exceptional results and world-record prices. Our global team of specialists is always available for free and confidential valuations of individual works or collections. Please do not hesitate to get in touch to discuss buying or selling at auction, online or through Private Sales.

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Alexis Maggiar
International Head, Arts of Africa, Oceania & the Americas
Paris, New York
Alexis Maggiar joined Christie’s in June 2020 as International Director for Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. Having started his career in this field in 2001, Alexis joined an international auction house in 2007 and was appointed European Director of the African and Oceania Arts Department in 2017. For more than a decade, Alexis has contributed to significant discoveries in this field, setting numerous auction records and participating in the success of collection sales in Paris and New York. The auction results realized in this field salute the strength of his expertise and his aesthetic sense. His fascination by the dialogue between arts and cultures and his steadfast dedication have been integral to the recognition of this category at the top of the art market. In 2021, he was instrumental in achieving a historical result for Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas with €79M in auction sales, the highest annual total realized for this category by any auction house.Victor Teodorescu
Head of Department, Specialist
Paris, Brussels
Victor Teodorescu joined Christie’s in Paris in 2016 as a Specialist in the Art of Africa, Oceania and North America department, and was apponted Head of Sale in 2018. Prior to his position at Christie’s, Victor has worked at the Brussels branch of the German auction house Lempertz.
In his current role, Victor is instrumental in securing important consignments. Notable highlights included the Helena Rubinstein mask, which sold for nearly €1 million at the Paris Avant-Garde sale in 2019. He also contributed to the sale of an important Songye figure, which realised nearly €2.3 million.
Victor speaks French, German, English, Italian, Romanian, Spanish and Dutch.
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Victor Teodorescu a rejoint Christie’s à Paris en 2016 en tant que spécialiste du département des arts d’Afrique, d’Océanie et des Amériques. Il a été nommé responsable des ventes en 2018. Avant de rejoindre Christie’s, Victor a travaillé à la filiale bruxelloise de la maison de vente aux enchères allemande Lempertz.
Dans ses fonctions actuelles, Victor a un rôle clé pour garantir d’importantes consignations. Parmi les plus notables se trouvent le masque Helena Rubinstein, vendu près d’un million d’euros lors de la vente Paris Avant-Garde en 2019. Il a aussi contribué à la vente d’une importante sculpture Songye, adjugée près de €2.3million. Victor parle français, allemand, anglais, italien, roumain, espagnol et néerlandais."- Based in Paris, Rémy Magusteiro joined the African & Oceanic Art and the Pre-Columbian Art departments as a Cataloguer in 2018 and was appointed as Junior Specialist in 2020. Rémy joined Christie’s after studying Art History, Political Science and Law. After graduation, he worked with Jean-Baptiste Bacquart in his art gallery and in a french auction house. He speaks several languages, including Portuguese and Spanish.
Basé à Paris, Rémy Magusteiro a rejoint le département d’Arts d’Afrique, d’Océanie et des Amériques et le département d’art précolombien comme catalogueur en 2018. Il a été nommé spécialiste junior en 2020. Rémy a rejoint Christie’s après des études d’histoire de l’art, sciences politiques et droit. Après l’obtention de son diplôme, il a travaillé avec Jean-Baptiste Bacquart dans sa galerie d’art et dans une maison de vente aux enchères. Il parle plusieurs langues, dont le portugais et l’espagnol.