Brett Gorvy

Descripción del Profesional del arte

As the worldwide Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s from 2000 to 2016, Brett Gorvy led an international team of 120 professionals who shaped the art market for over fifteen years. Gorvy and his team organized major auctions and exhibitions in New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Dubai, and Hong Kong. He is regarded as one of the leading forces and tastemakers behind the twentieth century art market, exerting a strong influence over the Masterpiece market (i.e., high-value works across all collecting categories). Arguably his most eminent legacy at Christie’s is his work with masterpiece clients in Asia, where he greatly expanded the auction house’s presence. Gorvy curated The Loaded Brush, mounted by Christie’s in November 2016, which was the first selling exhibition of international twentieth century art in Asia by any auction house. Gorvy began as an art critic, journalist and editor in London during the late 1980s. He joined Christies in 1994 as the Head of the Contemporary Art Department in London; then, in 1997, he was promoted to Head of the 20th Century Art Department; finally, in 2000, Gorvy transferred to New York to become Chairman and International Co-Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art. While in this position, Gorvy worked on the consignments and purchases of some of the most historic sales of twentieth and twenty-first century masterpieces in the last two decades, both privately and at auction. Gorvy and his team consistently expanded existing market levels and geographic areas to include Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and Latin America. He was responsible for the development and co-curatorship of special twentieth century auctions such as Looking Forward to the Past, 2015, a sale that included Pablo Picasso’s Les Femmes d’Alger (Version 0), 1955, which sold for $179.4 million and set a record as the highest price ever achieved for any work of art at auction. Gorvy is recognized as an expert and passionate advocate of the work of Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucian Freud, Alberto Giacometti, Willem de Kooning, Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly, and Andy Warhol, as well as a younger generation of artists such as Martin Kippenberger, Jeff Koons and Richard Prince. During his tenure at Christie’s, Gorvy was an essential resource for collectors seeking to incorporate these artists’ works into their collections. As the appointed appraiser for the de Kooning Foundation and the de Kooning Estate, Gorvy was responsible for the recent record for Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XXV, 1977. The previous May, Gorvy coordinated the consignment and sale of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s monumental self-portrait Untitled, 1982, which set a world record price. In November 2014, Gorvy was part of the core team to win two iconic Warhols from The Spielbanken Collection in Germany: Triple Elvis (Ferus Type), 1963; and Four Marlons, 1966. Gorvy also secured the winning bid for Mark Rothko’s Orange, Red, Yellow, 1961, in May 2012, which remains a record for the artist at auction. Under Gorvy’s leadership, Christie’s broke barriers: it was the first auction house to surpass $200 million in Post-War and Contemporary Art sales in one evening, then $400 million, $600 million, and finally $800 million with the November 2014 Evening sale, which realized $852 million—the highest sales total in auction history. Gorvy’s background in critical writing is showcased on his popular Instagram account. Gorvy and his wife, Amy Gold, are respected collectors of twentieth century works on paper and photography and regularly lend their works to major institutions.