Old Master Paintings

Christie’s has redefined the market for Old Master Paintings, reaching new price levels in auctions and private sales. In 2017, Christie’s made history, selling Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi for $450 million — more than double the previous record for any work of art sold at auction. This achievement followed our private sale to the French and Dutch states in 2016 of a pair of full-length portraits by Rembrandt for €160 million — currently, the highest price paid privately for any Old Master piece. Christie’s conducts Old Master auctions in London in July and December; New York in January and May; and Paris in June and November. Attracting a range of international clients throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, these sales are dedicated to over a half a millennium of art.

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Contact us

Andrew Fletcher
Global Head, Old Masters
London, New York
Appel+44 (0) 20 7389 2344
E-mailafletcher@christies.com
Andrew joined Christie’s in 2022 assuming overall responsibility for the international Old Masters department. Previously Andrew spent nearly 20 years at Sotheby’s, most recently as head of the Old Masters department, Europe, during which time he oversaw many of the department’s most successful auction sales. Andrew was the co-architect of the £150m pioneering sale ‘Rembrandt to Richter’ in 2020 during the pandemic, the first major evening sale to combine Old Masters with Impressionist, Contemporary and Modern British Art. He has been particularly focused on growing private sales in the field and has been instrumental in the development of the market for Old Masters in Asia. Andrew’s particular passion lies in the early Netherlandish and Italian schools.
Henry Pettifer
International Deputy Chairman
London
Appel+44 (0)20 7389 2084
E-mailhpettifer@christies.com
John Stainton
International Deputy Chairman
London, Hong Kong
Appel+44 (0)20 7389 2945
E-mailjstainton@christies.com
John Stainton is Deputy Chairman of Christie’s Old Master Paintings department. John joined the company in 1990 after completing a two-year diploma at Christie's Education, and was appointed Head of Department, British Pictures 1500-1850, in 1994. In 2007 John became an International Director of the merged Old Master & British Paintings department.

Major works which John has worked closely on in recent years include J.M.W. Turner’s Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio, Venice (2006; US$35.8M), George Stubbs’ Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath (2011; £22.4M), and John Constable’s The Lock (2012; £22.4M), each representing world record prices. John also handles major private and institutional sales.

While British Painting – a field whose market Christie’s consistently dominates – remains a passion, John works across all schools of European Old Masters. In 2014 John curated the highly successful ‘Art of the Horse’ private selling exhibition which toured to Shanghai and Hong Kong, comprising Asian and Western works of art, from Antiquity to the present day. John leads the Old Master department’s work in Asia.
Letizia Treves
Global Head of Research & Expertise
London
Appel+44 (0)20 7389 5206
E-mailltreves@christies.com
Letizia began her career in Old Master Paintings at Sotheby’s in 1996, becoming worldwide specialist in Italian paintings. In 2013 she assumed the position of Curator of later Italian, Spanish and French 17th-century paintings at The National Gallery, London. Whilst there, she championed several acquisitions in her area and curated numerous exhibitions, including Beyond Caravaggio (2016) and Artemisia (2020). Letizia left the museum in 2022 and, after a period as Senior Partner at Moretti Fine Art in London, has taken on the role of Global Head of Research & Expertise in Old Masters.
Francis Russell
Deputy Chairman, UK
London
Appel+44 (0)20 7389 2075
E-mailfrussell@christies.com
Francis Russell has been a specialist at Christie’s since 1972, and is a former Head of the International Old Master Picture Department. A well-known authority in the field of Italian Old Masters – and in particular the art of the Umbrian Renaissance, Italian portraiture and view-paintings of the 18th Century – as well as the history of British collecting. He advised on the selection of paintings and assisted on the catalogue for the Treasure Houses of Britain exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and has published discoveries by artists as varied as Fra Angelico, Pontormo and Wright of Derby. Mr. Russell served on the Art Panel of the National Trust. He has written about Italian and English paintings and aspects of the history of collections for scholarly publications such as Country Life and The Burlington Magazine. His books include John, 3rd Earl of Bute: Patron and Collector, 2004, Places in Italy, 2007, Places in Turkey, 2010, Places in Syria, 2011 and Places in Jordan, 2012.
Clementine Sinclair
Senior Director, Head of Department
London
Appel+44 (0)20 7389 2306
E-mailcsinclair@christies.com
As Senior Director, Head of Department in London, Clementine is involved in overseeing the sourcing, cataloguing and research, and marketing of the sales. She started on the graduate training scheme at Christie’s in 2005, having completed a BA in History of Art at Cambridge and a Masters at the Courtauld Institute. Initially part of the Early British Pictures team, she joined the Old Masters department in 2007.

Clementine headed up the Day sale before taking on the responsibilities of running the Evening sales in London. In this role, she has had the privilege of managing the research and marketing of Constable’s Lock, which sold for £22.4m in 2012, and Rubens’ Lot and His Daughter, which realised a remarkable £44.8m in 2016, setting a new record price for an Old Master painting sold at Christie’s. She was also involved in the highly successful Defining British Art cross-category sale, which was held to mark Christie’s 250th anniversary in 2016.
Freddie de Rougemont
Director
London
Appel+44 (0) 20 7389 2415
E-mailfderougemont@christies.com
Eugene Pooley
Director
London
Appel+44 20 7752 3319
E-mailepooley@christies.com
Maja Markovic
Director, Head of Evening Sale
London
Appel+44 20 7389 2090
E-mailmmarkovic@christies.com
Flavia Lefebvre D’Ovidio
Specialist
London
Appel+44 (0)20 7752 3371
E-mailflefebvre@christies.com
John Hawley
Specialist
London
Appel+1 212 974 4483
E-mailjhawley@christies.com
Prior to joining the Old Master Paintings team in New York in May 2017, John held a curatorial position at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, collaborating on a number of exhibitions, including the ground-breaking Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer (Fall 2015). He obtained degrees from the College of William and Mary (B.A., 2008), Institute of Fine Arts at New York University (M.A., 2010), and University of Virginia (Ph.D., 2015). A specialist in Dutch and Flemish art of the 17th century, John previously held positions at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia. He is the authority on the drawings of Cornelis Visscher (1628/29-1658) and has published extensively in Master Drawings, Print Quarterly, caa.reviews, and various exhibition catalogues.
Olivia Ghosh
Associate Specialist
London, Paris
Appel+33 (0)6 10 07 23 54
E-mailoghosh@christies.com
Olivia has worked at Christie’s since 2017, joining the Old Master Paintings Department in 2018 first as cataloguer and subsequently as specialist. She is now responsible for heading up the department’s biannual live sales in Paris. In addition to this, she is an auctioneer and charity auctioneer. Prior to joining Christie's, she was a Fellow in the Prints and Drawings Department at the British Museum. She speaks English, French and German, and has a specific interest in art of the British, French and Italian Schools.
Lucy Speelman
Junior Specialist
London
Appel+44 207 752 3074
E-maillspeelman@christies.com
Lucy is a Junior Specialist in the Old Master Paintings department in London, where she heads up their biannual Part II sales. She came to Christie’s in 2017 as an Object Intelligence Researcher in Old Masters where she supported senior specialists with client strategy and art market research before joining the specialist team in 2022. Prior to joining Christie’s, Lucy completed her Master’s degree at the Courtauld Institute of Art specialising in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century painting in Italy and northern Europe, and read for her Bachelor’s in History of Art at the University of Bristol.
Isabella Manning
Cataloguer
London
Appel+44 20 7389 2553
E-mailimanning@christies.com
Sacha Sabadel
Senior Sale Coordinator
London
Appel+44 (0)20 7389 2210
E-mailasabadel@christies.com
Amélie D’Arenberg
Sale Coordinator
London
Appel+44 207 389 2581
E-mailaarenberg@christies.com
General Sale Enquires
London
Appel+44 (0) 207839 9060
E-mailOnlineUK@christies.com
Francois de Poortere
International Director, Head of Department
New York
Appel+1 212 636 2120
E-mailfdepoortere@christies.com
Francois De Poortere was appointed Head of the Old Master Paintings department in New York in March 2015. He joins Christie’s with a broad knowledge of the Old Masters field, and a personal passion for Northern Renaissance paintings, which resulted in the recent rediscovery of a painting by the great Flemish master, Hans Memling. Having worked on both sides of the Atlantic, he brings a sophisticated international viewpoint to the department. Mr. De Poortere was formerly a senior specialist at another auction house in New York, where he worked for thirteen years.
Mr. De Poortere graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Art History and from New York University with an MA in Art Administration.
Joshua Glazer
Specialist, Head of Private Sales
New York
Appel+1 212 636 2125
E-mailjglazer@christies.com
After receiving his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, Joshua Glazer obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. His dissertation, From Dossale to Macchina: the Silver Altar of Saint John the Baptist and its symbolic function in Florence, was written under the direction of Professor Marvin Trachtenberg. In addition to traveling extensively throughout Europe, he has lived in Florence and Paris. He has lectured in New York and Italy, and has taught art history at New York University, Hunter College and Adelphi University.
Jonquil O’Reilly
Vice President, Specialist, Head of Sale
New York
Appel+1 212 636 2478
E-mailJOReilly@christies.com
Jonquil O’Reilly graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2008 with a First-Class MA Honours degree in Italian. Following graduation, she began her career in the Old Master Paintings department of another international auction house where she worked for nine years, first in London and from 2011 in New York as a Specialist with a focus on Italian paintings. Jonquil has a particular passion for historical fashion, using clothing as a lens through which to study Old Master Paintings. She writes regularly on the subject, “decoding” garments like powdered wigs, padded hips, ruffs and even the infamous codpiece, in the hopes of bringing Old Master Paintings to a wider audience. Her articles have been published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Harper’s Bazaar UK and she has lectured on fashion in art at the Cleveland Museum, NYU, Chatsworth House, the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle and Parsons School of Design, amongst others.
Oliver Rordorf
Specialist
New York
Appel+ 1 332 287 6470
E-mailorordorf@christies.com
Taylor Alessio
Junior Specialist
New York
Appel+1 212 636 2295
E-mailtalessio@christies.com
Taylor Alessio graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2016 with a B.A. in the History of Art. She then began her graduate studies at the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU, where she focused her studies on Sixteenth Century printed ephemera, and graduated with all university honors in 2018. After interning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and with prominent New York City dealers, she joined Christie’s in fall 2018. In July 2020 she joined the Old Master Paintings team as a cataloguer.
Meredith Horan
Cataloguer
New York
Appel+1 212 636 2414
E-mailmhoran@christies.com
Alan Wintermute
Consultant
New York
Appel+1 212 636 2231
E-mailawintermute@christies.com
As a specialist in Old Master Paintings, his responsibilities include appraising and valuing Old Master paintings for auction, insurance and fair market value appraisals; researching and cataloguing for auctions; and business-getting. Prior to joining Christie's in June 1998, Mr. Wintermute was Director, Colnaghi USA, New York and prior to that he was Assistant Director, Stair Sainty Matthiesen Gallery, New York. He also served as Head of Paintings for Artemis Fine Arts, New York and London. He has curated a number of exhibitions and authored the accompanying catalogues. These include, for Stair Sainty Matthiesen Gallery: The First Painters of the King: French Royal Taste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, which also travelled to the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Columbus Museum of Art (1985-1986), and François Boucher: His Circle and Influence (1987). For Colnaghi his exhibitions include: 1789: French Art During the Revolution (1989); Claude to Corot: The Development of Landscape Painting in France (1990); and The French Portrait, 1550-1850 (1996). He curated the acclaimed exhibition Watteau and His World: French Drawing from 1700 to 1750 (1999-2000) for The Frick Collection, New York and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. An expert on French paintings and drawings of the 18th century, Mr. Wintermute lectures extensively on the subject and has published widely on the artist Jean-Antoine Watteau, recently in the exhibition catalogues The Age of Watteau, Chardin and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting (2003) for Ottawa, Washington and Berlin, and The Splendor of Ruins in French Landscape Painting, 1630-1800 (2005) for Oberlin and Houston. He is the author of a forthcoming catalogue raisonne of Watteau’s paintings. Mr. Wintermute is a former Member of the Commissioner’s Art Advisory Panel of the Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury. He was graduated from Vassar College and The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
Manja Rottink
International Senior Specialist Old Master Paintings Director
Amsterdam
Appel+31 (0)20 575 5283
E-mailmrottink@christies.com
After receiving her degree at the University of Groningen with a monograph on the Dutch painter Jacob de Heusch (1656-1701), Manja continued her research at the Dutch institutes in Rome and Florence on Netherlandish artists in late 17th century Italy. Upon her return, she started her career with a major auction house in the beginning of 2002, joining Christie’s as an Old Master specialist three years later. Manja formerly headed the Old Masters & 19th Century Department and oversaw many sales, among which the most successful sale of an old master in Amsterdam with the Master of the Embroidered Foliage in 2012 (€1.4M). She was also instrumental in the sale of Jan Davidsz. de Heem’s flower still life in 2012 (£3M) and a maritime view by Willem van de Velde II in December 2014 (£2.2M). Manja is based in the Netherlands working internationally as senior specialist and is specialised in Dutch and Flemish old master paintings.
Pierre Etienne
International Director, Deputy Chairman, Old Master Paintings
Paris
Appel+33 (0)1 40 76 72 72
E-mailpetienne@christies.com
Pierre joined Christie’s in March 2018 as the International Director of the Old Master & 19th Century department, bringing 25 years of experience in the field. With a background in economics, art and communication, his career started under the guidance of renowned Old Master paintings expert Eric Turquin. For 15 years Pierre honed his expertise at Turquin’s practice, examining numerous works including several masterpieces, and became a qualified expert on paintings of the pre-modern era (up to the end of the 18th century). His subsequent research and writings – notably his thesis on the 18th century French painter Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié, published in 2000 – further anchored his specialism, with a focus on 17th and 18th century French paintings. In 2007, Pierre joined the Old Master Paintings department at Sotheby’s and has worked actively towards the development of the department. He was responsible for many landmark sales, including that of a pastel by Jean-Etienne Liotard, setting an auction record for the artist in 2012. Pierre has also led the outstanding sale of the Grandchamp des Raux Collection in 2015, which realised over €8 million for 49 paintings from 17th to 18th century France.
Bérénice Verdier
Associate Specialist
Paris
Appel+33 (0)1 40 76 85 87
E-mailbverdier@christies.com
Having built experience with French art experts, local galleries and auction houses (Cabinet de Dessins Anciens de Bayser, Artcurial, Galerie Eric Coatalem), Bérénice worked for two years at Sotheby’s Paris in the Old Master Paintings and Drawings department back to 2015-2017. There she was involved in the Orléans sale, including the last remaining works of art from the family descent of the last King of France. She then joined René Millet Expertise for more than a year where she was also taking care of appraisal research at Hôtel Drouot and in direct contact with auction houses across France. She started at Christie’s Paris in November 2018, growing as an associate Specialist in Old Master and 19th Century Paintings. Her strong knowledge in the French market is a great asset to keep on developing the biannual OMP online sale she is the head of.

In 2021 she was the co-head of the first sale at Christie's dedicated to female artists, which spanned the period from the Renaissance to the 21st Century.
Victoire Terlinden
Cataloguer
Paris
Appel+33 (0)1 40 76 83 76
E-mailvterlinden@christies.com
Holding a Master’s degree from the Ecole du Louvre (Paris) and the Vlerick Business School (Brussels), Victoire joined the Old Masters Paintings department in January 2021 after gaining experience working with the French expert Eric Turquin, with Belgian and French dealers at international art fairs, and at Sotheby’s. She speaks French, English, Spanish and Dutch.
Georgina Hilton
Head of Classic Art, Asia Pacific
Hong Kong
Appel+852 2978 6862
E-mailghilton@christies.com
Georgina is responsible for developing the market and taste for European Classical Art across Asia. Prior to moving to Hong Kong in 2019, Georgina was in the Old Master Paintings department in London. She is also a global Christie’s Auctioneer, taking flagship sales in Hong Kong, New York and London.
Melody Lin
Associate Vice President, Senior Representative Classic Art Group, Asia Pacific
Hong Kong
Appel+852 2978 6850
E-mailmelodylin@christies.com
Melody is responsible for expanding the market and interest of Western Classical Art in Asia, focusing on the International highlights tour and educational panels in Hong Kong, Taipei and mainland China. She joined Christie’s through the Graduate Trainee Program in 2018, and officially joined Classic Art Group in 2019. Melody was involved in number of major sales such as the Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 13 in Verona, Leonardo da Vinci The Head of a Bear, and rare manuscripts by Isaac Newton.
Nicole Portmann
Business Development Associate
Zürich
Appel+41 44 268 10 18
E-mailnportmann@christies.com
Astrid Centner-d’Oultremont
Director Christie’s Belgium, Old Masters Specialist
Brussels
Appel+32 2 512 88 30
E-mailacentner@christies.com
With over 15 years of experience in the Old Master Paintings field, Astrid Centner joined Christie’s Paris as Head of Old Masters in December 2018. She graduated from the Brussels University in 2006 with a master degree in Art History and Archaeology. Prior to Christie’s, she spent 9 years at Sotheby’s Paris and Brussels, developing excellent connoisseurship in the auction business and building an international network of collectors, curators and scholars. Specialized in Flemish Art, she was responsible in 2011 for the rediscovery of an unpublished portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck which sold for £713,250. Since her appointment at Christie’s, she strengthened the Old Masters team in Paris and played an important role in the promotion and selling of a unique Mozart portrait which made 4 million euros in 2019. She more recently contributed to the success of the 2020 Paris Old Masters sales, with a total of 10 million euros, and great results achieved for Flemish paintings, including a Salvator Mundi by Metsys studio (€490,000) and a Lucretia by the Master of the Female Half-Lengths (€430,000).

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Alan Wintermute

Consultant

New York

Appel

E-mail

As a specialist in Old Master Paintings, his responsibilities include appraising and valuing Old Master paintings for auction, insurance and fair market value appraisals; researching and cataloguing for auctions; and business-getting. Prior to joining Christie's in June 1998, Mr. Wintermute was Director, Colnaghi USA, New York and prior to that he was Assistant Director, Stair Sainty Matthiesen Gallery, New York. He also served as Head of Paintings for Artemis Fine Arts, New York and London. He has curated a number of exhibitions and authored the accompanying catalogues. These include, for Stair Sainty Matthiesen Gallery: The First Painters of the King: French Royal Taste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, which also travelled to the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Columbus Museum of Art (1985-1986), and François Boucher: His Circle and Influence (1987). For Colnaghi his exhibitions include: 1789: French Art During the Revolution (1989); Claude to Corot: The Development of Landscape Painting in France (1990); and The French Portrait, 1550-1850 (1996). He curated the acclaimed exhibition Watteau and His World: French Drawing from 1700 to 1750 (1999-2000) for The Frick Collection, New York and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. An expert on French paintings and drawings of the 18th century, Mr. Wintermute lectures extensively on the subject and has published widely on the artist Jean-Antoine Watteau, recently in the exhibition catalogues The Age of Watteau, Chardin and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting (2003) for Ottawa, Washington and Berlin, and The Splendor of Ruins in French Landscape Painting, 1630-1800 (2005) for Oberlin and Houston. He is the author of a forthcoming catalogue raisonne of Watteau’s paintings. Mr. Wintermute is a former Member of the Commissioner’s Art Advisory Panel of the Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury. He was graduated from Vassar College and The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.