Modern British and Irish Art

Nicholas joined Christie's in 1992 and trained as a general valuer, based in London, South Kensington. In the mid-1990s he moved to the Chairman's office to work on house and collection sales, overseeing the two largest house sales carried out by Christie's in Spain and Switzerland in 1998 and 1999. In 2001 Nick was asked to lead Christie's Estates, Appraisals and Valuations departments across Europe with offices in the UK, France, Italy and the Netherlands. During this time his team greatly expanded the valuation activities for Christie's across Europe, Middle East, Russia and India. In 2009 Christie's identified a need to provide greater services to corporate clients and Nicholas was appointed to lead this group alongside his existing responsibilities. In January 2013 he joined the Modern British Art department as a senior director, whilst still maintaining his focus on corporate art collections. Nick has been an auctioneer for Christie's since the late 1990s and regularly takes auctions in London and Italy.

Philip joined Christie's in 1993 and has worked in the field of 20th Century British & Irish Art since 1994, contributing significantly to Christie's lead in this category. As a highly respected and knowledgeable specialist in this field Philip has contributed to Christie's setting numerous auction records for artists including Patrick Caulfield; Barbara Hepworth; L.S. Lowry; Paul Nash; Samuel John Peploe; William Scott and Graham Sutherland. He has a keen interest in the work of the St Ives artists, and has a particular fascination for the work of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson. Collectors and clients worldwide seek his advice on both buying and selling collections and works of art at auction. Philip holds a M.A. in Art History from the University of St. Andrews; he was appointed Co-Head of the Department in April 2007 and Head of Department in July 2008.

Gus is a Director of Modern British Art and has a keen interest in Post-War British Art, particularly British Pop Art and the work of artists such as Sir Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton, Allen Jones and David Hockney; and Constructivism heralded by the likes of Victor Pasmore, Antony Hill and Kenneth and Mary Martin.

He joined Christie’s in 2005, becoming Head of Sale for British and Continental Pictures at South Kensington in 2007 and then Head of Sale for Modern British Art in 2012. He has worked on several important single owner collections including The Leslie Waddington Collection in 2016 which he was jointly responsible for and was 100% sold.

Christie’s leads the market for British Pop Art, which Gus has been instrumental in developing through record breaking consignments in recent years. In 2013 he helped curate When Britain Went Pop at Christie’s Mayfair, the first comprehensive exhibition in London dedicated to British Pop Art since the 1960s. In 2016, he assisted with the This Was Tomorrow exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, writing an essay for the catalogue which was the first survey of British Pop Art by a German museum. Gus holds an honours degree in History of Art from the University of Bristol, writing his dissertation on Abstract Art in Post-War St Ives.

Pippa joined the Modern British Art department in London in 2005, and has since contributed significantly to Christie’s leading position and development of the Modem British Art market. Pippa became Head of the Modern British Art Day Sales in 2012, and has been responsible for the most successful Day Sale to date. Auction records have been set for a range of artists including Eduardo Paolozzi, Phillip King and Augustus John.

Pippa is currently Head of the Modern British & Irish Art Day Sale. She also sources business for the Modern British Evening Sales, and has had a pivotal role in the consignment of major works by John Minton, Stanley Spencer and Richard Hamilton. Pippa’s particular interests include the Vorticist movement and post-war British sculpture. She holds a Masters degree in History of Art from the University of Edinburgh, and her final year dissertation on the paintings of Paul Nash prompted her continuing fascination with the work of Nash and his contemporaries.

Alice advises clients on buying and selling 20th century British Art at auction and Private Sale. Alongside her expertise in British Modernism, Studio Ceramics, Post-War British art and the work of Stanley Spencer, Alice is particularly passionate about promoting the work of female and under-represented artists.

Alice joined Christie's in 2011 in the Victorian Pictures, and British Drawings and Watercolours department. In 2012, following her love for Modern art, she joined the Modern British and Irish Art department where she has since been involved in several notable auction sales including: the Noël Coward sale (2015), the Brian Sewell collection (2016), the record-breaking Defining British Art sale (2016), The Collection of Sir Nicholas Goodison (2022) and in leading the launch of the first online auctions for Modern British and Irish Art (2016).

During her tenure as Head of the Modern British & Irish Art Day Sale (2021-2022), Christie's achieve the highest grossing total for the category (October 2021). Prior to this, Alice was Head of the Modern British & Irish Art sale at South Kensington (2016-2017); the Modern British and Impressionist and Modern Art Online and Mid-Season Sales (2016-2019); and the perennially successful Picasso Ceramics sales (2017-2019).

Alice also speaks French and Spanish, holding a First Class Honours Languages degree with Distinction from Edinburgh University. Her dissertation in French focused on the interplay of word and image in the cubist movement at the start of the 20th century.