Impressionist & Modern Art

Giovanna Bertazzoni is Vice-Chairman, 20th - 21st Century Department, leading the team of Impressionist and Modern Art Specialists as well as collaborating with the Post-War and Contemporary team to present innovative cross-category sales to the global market.

Giovanna oversaw the Impressionist and Modern Art Department's global expansion in Asia, and was instrumental in selling the first Picasso ever offered in Mainland China, during Christie's inaugural sale in Shanghai in September 2013. Giovanna’s dynamic leadership brought her team to great success in the landmark sale ‘Looking Forward to the Past’ at Christie’s in New York, in May 2015, which saw Les femmes d'Alger (Version 'O'), 1955, by Pablo Picasso set the World Auction Record for Any Work of Art, when it sold for $179,365,000. Giovanna’s international outlook has ensured stellar results are achieved in both London and New York, with particular emphasis on Picasso portraits, such as Femme assise, robe bleue (May 2017, New York) and Femme écrivant (Marie-Thérèse) (June 2017, London).

Giovanna’s passion for works on paper has driven the market for this intimate art form with dedicated sales at Christie’s for 22 years. A personal highlight for Giovanna was the sale of Paul Cézanne’s drawings and watercolours from the Chappuis Barut Collection in June 2003.

In 2020, Giovanna’s creativity and market intelligence were brought together with that of Alex Rotter and together they co-led the implementation of ONE, the first of its kind global relay auction, live-streamed from Christie’s salerooms in Hong Kong, Paris, London and New York. Responding to the need to reimagine the traditional Evening Sale format as a result of the COVID-19 virus, the innovative sale ultimately yielded the highest result for any auction that year.

Giovanna started her career at Christie's in 1998 and has since forged and continues to cultivate strong relationships with a global network of major private collectors, particularly with collectors of works on paper, and graphic arts departments of major European and American museums.

Giovanna lives in London with her husband Andrea and son Martino.

In 2007 Olivier was appointed Head of the London Department, a position he held until 2009. He enjoyed considerable success in this role. In June 2008 the Impressionist Evening sale reached new heights, achieving £144.5m ($285m) thanks to the Miller Collection from Columbus, Indiana - for a long time the highest total for any Impressionist and Modern Art sale in European auction history. In that sale Monet's ‘Nympheas’ sold for £41m ($82m) a world record then not only for Monet, but for any Impressionist painting at auction. He also played a key role in the consignment of single major paintings such as Gauguin's ‘L'homme à la hache’, which sold for the world record price of $40m in New York in November 2006, and Degas' pastel ‘Danseuses à la barre’ which sold for £13.5m ($26.5m) in 2008.

In 2012 Olivier was appointed Deputy Chairman of the department. He has since then been responsible for several major sales such as the Hubertus Wald Charitable Foundation collection from Hamburg, which was a backbone of the London February 2012 evening sales and witnessed several world record prices. In 2014 he was responsible for the sale of the unnamed ‘Modern Masterworks from a Private Swiss Collection’, which included world record masterpieces such as Juan Gris 'La nappe à carreaux' of 1915, which sold for a double world record price of £35m ($57m) as well as Carlo Carra's 'Solitudine' from circa 1917-26, which sold for a record £3m ($5m).

In 2015 Olivier was responsible for the consignment of Picasso's 'Les Femmes d'Alger' of 1955, which sold for $180m, not only beating the previous record price of $108m, but also establishing the world record price for any work of art at auction; he was also responsible for the sale of Mondrian's ‘Composition III’ from 1929, which achieved the new world record of $50m, and the anonymous Belgian collection ‘Reality and Surreality’ which included Bacon's ‘Cardinal Rouge’ and fetched $45m while the total collection sold for $120m (£75m), mostly in February 2015 in London: as well as being responsible for the consignment of the anonymous ‘Figuration and Abstraction: works from a private European collection’, which also sold in February 2015 for £42m ($64m), with Miro’s 1950 ‘Painting (Women, Room, Birds)’ estimated at £4-7m and selling for £15.5 ($25m), a world record for any post-war Miro.

Olivier has been responsible for helping Christie's achieve a dominant position in the Surrealist and Italian 20th Century Art yearly sales in London since their inception in 2000. While Olivier stopped running the Italian sale in 2008, he successfully continues to run ‘The Art of The Surreal sale’ which is world renowned and is the leading sale for such art worldwide and the only one to take place regularly in London every February. As result Christie's holds a 77% market share in that sale format. In 2015 his Surrealist sale achieved a highpoint when Christie’s registered 80% market share against our competitors. That sale at £66.5m ($101m) achieved the highest sold total for any Surrealist sale in auction history.

Jay joined Christie’s in 1998 after graduating with a Master’s degree in History of Art from the University of Cambridge. In 1999 Jay became a specialist in the Impressionist and Modern Art department and was appointed International Director in 2011. Two years later he became the Head of the London Impressionist and Modern Art department, successfully leading the team and the London sales through a period of immense growth and change in the market. During this time Jay was also responsible for sourcing business and developing top client relationships throughout Europe, and oversaw the record breaking February 2014 evening sale, which at £179.9million became the largest sale ever held in London in any category. In 2019 Jay became Head of Private Sales for the Impressionist and Modern Art group in Europe, in which role he is responsible for managing the growth and development of the channel.

Keith Gill has been Head of the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in London since February 2018. Keith began his career at Christie’s in 2010, working in the Estates, Appraisals & Valuations team before moving to the Impressionist and Modern Art Department, where he has worked in each sale category from the Impressionist & Modern Art and Picasso Ceramics sales at South Kensington, to heading both the Works on Paper and Day Sale at King Street. Since taking over responsibility for the Evening Sale, Keith has overseen the sale of a number of record breaking works including Franz Marc’s Drei Pferde in June 2018 and Paul Signac’s Le Port au Soleil Couchant and Gustave Caillebotte’s Chemin montant in February 2019 – all achieving multiples of previous auction records. Keith’s role as Head of the Evening Sale sees him sourcing business and developing top client relationships throughout Europe, with a particular emphasis on Germany. Prior to joining Christie’s, Keith worked in corporate finance advisory in the retail and consumer sectors for twelve years. Keith holds a Masters degree in History of Art from the University of Glasgow and a Masters degree in Economics & Management from Oxford University.

Michelle McMullan is a Senior Specialist in the Impressionist and Modern Art team, London.

Michelle works closely with the international Day, Evening and Private Sales teams, responsible for appraising artworks and collections for each of these business channels. Michelle focuses on cultivating client relationships and advising clients on consignments and acquisitions, with a particular affinity for those new to collecting and to the auction world. Michelle led the Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale team for five years, delivering the highest grossing sale total in London for the category in 2018. In 2012, Michelle headed the record-breaking sale of Picasso Ceramics from the Madoura Pottery Collection and continues to set new benchmarks for this aspect of Picasso’s oeuvre. Michelle is also a key part of the dynamic team driving interest and results for the Surreal category.

Michelle joined Christie’s in 2009. Previously she worked in commercial industry while earning a B.A. in History of Art and Italian from University College London.

Ottavia Marchitelli is a Director, Senior Specialist in the Impressionist and Modern Art Department in London.

Ottavia drives business sourcing in Impressionist and 20th Century Art, focusing on business getting, art advisory and auction management. Her passion engages clients and institutions alike across Europe, a knowledge base she transfers into the strong results she continues to achieve for the department. As a Director, Ottavia leads the core Impressionist team, prioritising the sourcing of outstanding works of art for the Day and Works on Paper Sales.

Ottavia joined Christie’s in 2010 and holds a Master of Science in Economics and Management for Arts, Culture, Media and Entertainment from Bocconi University, Milan. Ottavia is fluent in English, French and Italian.

Ottavia lives in London with her husband and two children.

Annie’s role as Head of the Day Sale sees her sourcing business and developing client relationships throughout Europe, advising on consignments, acquisitions and appraisals across the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Annie has a particular focus on helping clients to develop their collections, and enjoys working with those new to collecting and the auction world. Annie strives to promote the work of female artists with a keen interest in expanding their market within the impressionist & modern segment. Prior to heading the Day Sale, Annie was Head of Works on Paper.

Annie joined the Impressionist & Modern team at King Street in March 2011, where she worked on the record-breaking sale of Picasso Ceramics from the Madoura Pottery Collection in 2012, and the highest grossing Day sale total in London for the category in 2018.

Annie holds a Bachelor degree in History of Art and English from the University of Birmingham.

Micol is the Head of the Works on Paper Sale for the Impressionist & Modern Art team in London. She is currently a Specialist, Business Getter with a focus on the core market and client development initiatives in Europe.

Micol joined the department as Research Intern in November 2010 and took on the role of Researcher in April 2012. In 2014 she was appointed Junior Specialist for Private Sales globally, moving to the Day sale in 2018, also focusing on business getting and client development. Micol headed the successful online sale, Joie de Vivre, in July 2020 and the Works on Paper sale since November 2020.

Micol holds a Master’s degree in Art History from Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy, and a Master’s degree in Intellectual and Cultural Studies from the Warburg Institute in London.

Nicole Ching is a Specialist Advisor in the 20/21st Department in London. Before entering the world of auctions, Nicole came from the museum space, having worked at Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum, Shanghai’s Long Museum and written for ArtAsiaPacific. She also founded Museum 2050 in Beijing in 2017, a platform for investigating key issues about the future of cultural institutions in the Greater China region and for providing a place for young museum professionals to converse, share ideas and create a vibrant museum community. Prior to Christie’s, Nicole worked at another international auction house for almost three years, were she was a Deputy Director in the Private Client Group. Nicole graduated from UCL with a BA in Classics and read for an MSc in Visual, Material, and Museum Anthropology at Oxford and was chosen to be a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University where she received a Masters of Global Affairs in International Relations. She is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Katarina is an Associate Specialist for the Impressionist & Modern art team in London with a focus on the Day Sale, as well as the Head of the Picasso Ceramics Sale. She works closely with the team cataloguing and researching for the sales. Katarina joined Christie's in 2021, having previously held positions at Sotheby's and Phillips. She holds degrees in History of Art and French from both the University of Edinburgh and Cambridge, and speaks French and Serbian.

Aleksandra joined the Russian Art department at Christie's in 2012 having previously worked for a number of art galleries, museums and auction houses in Russia and England. Aleksandra has a strong background in Restoration and Art History having completed her two MAs in Fine Art and Restoration at the St Petersburg Academy of Art & Design and in Art Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.

Aleksandra is responsible for securing key consignments for Russian paintings and overseas cataloguing, researching and catalogue production for Russian pictures offered at auction and for private sales across the company. Over the past decade Aleksandra has contributed to the phenomenal success of the Russian Art category at Christie’s and has been instrumental in achieving many world record prices, most notably uncovering Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin’s masterpiece Still life with lilac, which was sold for £9.3 million (London, 2019) to became the most expensive Russian painting ever sold in a Russian sale.