BONHAMS ANNOUNCE APPOINTMENT OF GARETH WILLIAMS AS HEAD OF CONTEMPORARY ART AND MODERN DESIGN
Bonhams announced (20.9.12) that Gareth Williams has been appointed as Head of the Contemporary Art and Design Department for the UK and Europe.
Gareth is best known for his work promoting the work of Banksy for whom he established a number of world records in his Urban Art Sales.
Gareth joined Bonhams in 1995 and is a proven commercial innovator, launching the highly successful Urban Art auctions, an event that the Observer magazine listed as one of the fifteen defining moments of 2008. In 2000 he took over as head of the innovative Futures sales format, a pioneering department launched by Bonhams in the 1990s that focused on modern and contemporary across the board. Gareth continued this success when invited to manage the Vision 21 auctions (a sale concept unique to Bonhams that focused on modern and contemporary paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture and modern design furniture). Within 12 months of his joining the Vision 21 sales totals tripled.
This year Gareth has extended the Urban Art brand into California and will extend his talents to lead all Bonhams Contemporary Art sales in the UK and Europe.
His appointment coincides with the publication of his new book ‘Cut and Shut: The History of Creative Salvage ’ which focuses on the concept of furniture and art produced from found objects. This is the first time a book on this subject has been published, examining designers and artists who are literally at the cutting edge of this genre.
Matthew Girling, Bonhams CEO for Europe, comments: “We are delighted with this appointment. Gareth has an excellent track record of achieving world record prices for contemporary artists and has led our highly successful Urban Art Sales. It is always a pleasure to make an internal appointment that is based on long term organic growth and success.”
Jonathan Horwich, Global Director of Picture Sales, says: “Gareth’s appointment as Director of Contemporary Art for the UK and Europe alongside Jeremy Goldsmith Head of Contemporary Art in New York and his colleagues Sharon Goodman Squires in LA and Sarah Nelson in San Francisco, gives us real strength and depth for this growing department. With their support teams Bonhams is in an ever stronger position to offer clients in this area a superb service and great knowledge of the market.”
Gareth Williams says: “I’m delighted to take on this new challenge building on the success of our previous projects. Bonhams are unique in the UK in presenting a tightly curated sale of Contemporary Art and Design as we believe that there is a huge crossover between the two markets. The best works from each field sit perfectly together in major international collections and our auctions aim to capitalise on this trend.”
Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and a further three in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Connecticut in the USA; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments go towww.bonhams.com.