An auction house is three things at once: a name on a catalogue, a pair of hands on the rostrum, and a calendar. The name may be three centuries old. The hands changed at more houses in the past two years than in the previous twenty. And the calendar — marquee weeks in New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong, rising out of a continuous river of online sales — is where the market now actually happens. This guide maps all three, house by house.
The list covers 30 houses in eight sections: the global majors; China and East Asia; France; Germany and Central Europe; the United States, from its national middle-market house to its design and specialist firms; motoring; the Nordic houses; and the regional and digital champions of Britain and India. For each house: its ownership as it stands in late 2026, its chief executive and its chair — verified individually, because 2025 and 2026 were years of succession — what it sells and how, its departments in full, its named salerooms, its sale calendar in words, and its published sales total where the house gives one. Where no official figure or title exists, the entry says "not published" rather than estimating one. Houses that do not publish a separate chairman say so; that is a fact about disclosure, printed plainly, not a space to be filled with a plausible name.
THE YEAR THE HOUSES CHANGED HANDS
Begin with the owners, because the owners moved first. In October 2025 Bonhams, founded in 1793, was sold by the private equity firm Epiris to Pemberton Asset Management, a European private credit manager backed by Legal & General. The chief executive who had arrived a year earlier departed with the sale, and Seth Johnson took the chair of the executive floor while Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard remained chairman of the board. In February 2025 A-Mark Precious Metals, listed on Nasdaq, agreed to acquire the parent of Stack's Bowers Galleries, the coin house of the Eliasberg and Ford collections, which continues as a standalone subsidiary with its chief executive and president in place. In September 2024 Christie's made its largest acquisition in two decades, buying Gooding & Company outright; the Pebble Beach house now trades as Gooding Christie's, the mirror image of RM Sotheby's, which a decade earlier kept its independence and sold Sotheby's a minority interest instead. And in May 2026 the chairmanship of Christie's itself passed to François-Henri Pinault, the second generation of the family that has owned the house through Artémis since 1998, while Bonnie Brennan, chief executive since February 2025, runs the business beneath him.
Sotheby's, the oldest name in the guide, tells the same story from the other side. Taken private by Patrick Drahi in 2019, it took in Abu Dhabi's ADQ as a minority investor in the $1 billion investment of 2024, moved its New York flagship into the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, and reported consolidated sales of $7.1 billion for 2025 — ahead, for that year, of Christie's $6.2 billion. Heritage Auctions of Dallas, a partnership still led by its two co-founders as co-chairmen, posted $2.158 billion and its fifth consecutive record. The centre of the market, meanwhile, consolidated quietly: Freeman's and Hindman merged in 2024 and now trade as Freeman's alone; Rago and Wright built a five-house design network on one bidding platform; and Bonhams assembled a network of national champions — Bukowskis in Stockholm, Bruun Rasmussen in Copenhagen, Skinner in Boston, Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris — each keeping its own name on its own door.
HOW TO READ THE GUIDE
Three cautions, printed once here and applied in every entry. First, titles differ by country and by house: a German managing director, a French président and an American president may do the same job under different names, so each entry prints the title the house itself publishes. Second, sales totals are house-reported, labelled with their year, and never compared across different definitions — Artcurial's €208.5 million of auction sales in 2025 and its group's €1.75 billion of turnover, which includes real estate and racehorses, are both printed in its entry precisely so that they are not confused. Third, the entry route matters as much as the rostrum: every house in this guide will value a reader's object, most of them free and online, and every one explains, in its entry, how to bid — in the room, by telephone, by written bid, or live on a screen, which is how most lots in most of these houses are now bought.
THE GLOBAL MAJORS
1. CHRISTIE'S — LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Founded 1766 · Global major · Worldwide
Ownership: Artémis, the Pinault family holding company (owner since 1998) — verified October 2026
Chief executive: Bonnie Brennan, Chief Executive Officer (from 1 February 2025; Christie's press release)
Chair: François-Henri Pinault, Chairman of the Board of Christie's International plc (appointed May 2026, Christie's press release); François Pinault remains Honorary Chair. He succeeded Guillaume Cerutti, chairman 2025–26
Sells: Live evening and day auctions, online-only auctions and private sales across art, luxury, design and collectibles; Christie's Financial Services and art advisory alongside. In 2025 auctions were $4.7bn of $6.2bn total sales and private sales $1.5bn (house figures)
Departments: 20th and 21st Century Art; Old Masters; Asian Art; European Art; American Art; Latin American Art; Jewels; Watches; Wine; Handbags and Accessories; Design; Prints and Multiples; Books and Manuscripts; British Art; Middle Eastern Art; Gooding Christie's collector cars (see separate entry)
Salerooms: London (King Street); New York (Rockefeller Plaza); Paris; Hong Kong (The Henderson); Geneva; Milan; Amsterdam; Zurich; Dubai; Shanghai presentations
Calendar: Marquee weeks in New York in May and November, London in March, June and October, Paris in March and October and Hong Kong in March and September, with themed luxury and design weeks between — in the house's own calendar shape, two great New York and London seasons anchor the year
Scale: $6.2bn total sales in 2025 — $4.7bn auctions, $1.5bn private sales (Christie's projected year-end figures, December 2025)
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by absentee bid or live on Christie's LIVE after registering with identification and, for high-value lots, financial references. Consign through a specialist or the online valuation portal; free auction estimates are offered online
Website: christies.com · Contact: Client services, saleroom contacts and valuation portal via christies.com · Phone: +1 212 636 2000 (New York) · Headquarters: 8 King Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6QT, United Kingdom (global headquarters); 1 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
Founded by James Christie in London in 1766; the house of the Rockefeller, Paul Allen and Salvator Mundi sales and, since 1998, the Pinault family's flagship cultural asset. The market's volume leader in single-owner collections and the only major house under one family owner for more than a quarter of a century; its chairman in 2026 is the owner family's second generation. Notes: Chairmanship changed in May 2026 — older sources naming Guillaume Cerutti as chairman are superseded. Gooding & Company was acquired in September 2024 and trades as Gooding Christie's
2. SOTHEBY'S — NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
Founded 1744 · Global major · Worldwide
Ownership: Patrick Drahi (majority owner, through BidFair, since 2019) with ADQ, Abu Dhabi's sovereign investor, holding a minority stake under the $1bn Drahi–ADQ investment announced August 2024 — verified October 2026
Chief executive: Charles F. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer (since 2019)
Chair: No separate chairman title is published by the house in sources checked, October 2026 — named gap. Patrick Drahi is the controlling owner; the board includes owner and ADQ representatives
Sells: Live auctions, online auctions, private sales, Sotheby's Financial Services lending and Sotheby's Metaverse/digital sales historically; in 2025 auctions were $5.7bn of $7.1bn consolidated sales and private sales $1.2bn (house figures)
Departments: Impressionist and Modern Art; Contemporary Art; Old Masters; Asian Art; American Art; Latin American Art; Jewels; Watches; Wine and Spirits; Design; Books and Manuscripts; Handbags; Cars through RM Sotheby's (see entry); Sotheby's Sealed and buy-now formats
Salerooms: New York (the Breuer, Madison Avenue); London (New Bond Street); Paris (Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré); Hong Kong (Landmark Chater / Maison); Geneva; Zurich; Milan; Cologne; Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Riyadh selling exhibitions and inaugural sales
Calendar: Marquee weeks in New York in May and November — the house's record November 2025 season was led by the $236.4m Klimt Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer — London in March, June and October, Paris and Hong Kong seasons, plus Abu Dhabi Collectors' Week, inaugurated December 2025
Scale: $7.1bn consolidated sales in 2025, revenue $1.4bn (Sotheby's full-year 2025 results release, 18 February 2026); a December 2025 projection of $7.0bn precedes it — the February figure is printed
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by absentee bid or online after account registration and verification. Consign through specialists or the online estimate request; Sotheby's also buys and lends against collections through its financial-services arm
Website: sothebys.com · Contact: Client services, department contacts and online valuations via sothebys.com · Phone: +1 212 606 7000 (New York) · Headquarters: 945 Madison Avenue (the Breuer Building), New York, NY 10021, United States
Founded in London in 1744 as a bookseller-auctioneer; the oldest house in this guide still trading under its founding name, taken private by Patrick Drahi in 2019 and re-housed in New York at the Breuer Building in 2025. The luxury-led model: $2.7bn of 2025 sales were luxury categories, and the house now sells from a museum building — Marcel Breuer's former Whitney Museum — bought and converted as its New York flagship. Notes: The chairman gap is a disclosure practice of a private company, not an omission of this guide. The ADQ stake size itself is not published
3. PHILLIPS — LONDON / NEW YORK, UNITED KINGDOM / UNITED STATES
Founded 1796 · Global major · Worldwide
Ownership: Mercury Group, the Russian luxury retail group (owner since 2008; its owners Leonid Fridlyand and Leonid Strunin are reported not to be on sanctions lists in trade coverage) — ownership re-verified October 2026; the house publishes no change
Chief executive: Martin Wilson, Chief Executive Officer (appointed December 2024, in post from 2025; formerly the house's Chief Legal Officer)
Chair: No separate chairman is published by the house after Edward Dolman, who held the Executive Chairman title, departed in 2025 — named gap, October 2026
Sells: Live and online auctions and private sales, concentrated deliberately on the modern and contemporary field rather than the full encyclopaedia of the two larger majors; Dropshop e-commerce editions and Phillips Perpetual watch retail sit alongside
Departments: Modern and Contemporary Art; Design; Photographs; Editions and Works on Paper; Watches (Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo); Jewels; 20th Century and Contemporary Art in Hong Kong, held jointly with Poly Auction in past seasons
Salerooms: New York (432 Park Avenue); London (Berkeley Square); Hong Kong (West Kowloon Cultural District); Geneva (watch sales)
Calendar: New York and London modern and contemporary evening-sale weeks in May/June and November, Geneva watch weeks in May and November, Hong Kong spring and autumn sales, and a near-continuous online and day-sale programme
Scale: $927m global sales in 2025 (house-reported figure in industry compilations); spring 2026 auction season $507m, up 60% year on year, 90% sell-through by lot (Phillips press release, 7 July 2026)
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by absentee bid or on the Phillips app and website after registration; priority bidding rewards early bids with a reduced premium structure as published per sale. Consign through specialists; online estimates on request
Website: phillips.com · Contact: Department contacts, consignment and valuation routes via phillips.com · Phone: +1 212 940 1200 (New York) · Headquarters: 432 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022, United States; 30 Berkeley Square, London W1J 6EX, United Kingdom
Founded by Harry Phillips, a former Christie's clerk, in London in 1796; in its modern form the focused challenger house for 20th- and 21st-century art, design, watches and jewels, in its 230th anniversary year in 2026. The youngest-feeling of the majors: 40% of spring 2026 buyers were first-time buyers at the house and millennial and Gen Z collectors were one in three bidders and buyers (house figures). Notes: Stephen Brooks was CEO 2021–24 and Edward Dolman CEO then Executive Chairman to 2025; sources naming either are out of date
4. BONHAMS — LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Founded 1793 · Global major · Worldwide
Ownership: Pemberton Asset Management, the European private credit manager backed by Legal & General (acquired from the private equity firm Epiris in October 2025) — verified October 2026
Chief executive: Seth Johnson, Chief Executive Officer (appointed on the Pemberton acquisition, October 2025)
Chair: Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, Chairman of the Board (in post through the 2025 ownership change; Bonhams statements, October 2025)
Sells: Live, online and private sales in 60-plus categories, from fine art and motor cars to arms and armour; the network model keeps acquired houses — Bukowskis, Bruun Rasmussen, Skinner, Cornette de Saint Cyr — trading under their own names
Departments: Fine Art (Old Master, British, European, American, Modern and Contemporary); Asian Art; Jewels; Watches; Motor Cars; Design; Silver; Ceramics; Arms and Armour; Wine; Books and Manuscripts; Coins and Medals; Scientific Instruments; Islamic and Indian Art; Tribal Art
Salerooms: London (New Bond Street and Knightsbridge); New York (111 West 57th Street, Steinway Tower, from 2026 per the house's own history); Los Angeles; Paris; Hong Kong; Edinburgh; Sydney; plus network salerooms in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Boston and Paris/Brussels
Calendar: A rolling calendar of more than 400 specialist sales a year rather than a few marquee weeks, anchored by London, New York, Paris and Hong Kong seasons, the Quail and Goodwood motor-car sales and themed single-owner sales
Scale: $1bn turnover first achieved in 2022 (house history). No audited total for 2024 or 2025 is published — scale for those years: not published
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by commission bid or live online after registration. Consign through specialists, at valuation days held across the network, or by online estimate request
Website: bonhams.com · Contact: Department contacts, free valuation days and online estimates via bonhams.com · Phone: +44 20 7393 3900 (London, New Bond Street) · Headquarters: 101 New Bond Street, London W1S 1SR, United Kingdom
Founded in London in 1793; the broad-church major — more than 60 collecting categories and a network of acquired national houses trading under their own names as part of the Bonhams network. The consolidator: no other major has grown by buying national champions and keeping their names, staffs and salerooms — 'the world's local auction house' in its chairman's phrase. Notes: Global CEO Chabi Nouri (October 2024–October 2025) departed on the Pemberton sale; sources naming her, or Bruno Vinciguerra before her, are out of date. New York flagship move to Steinway Tower is stated in the house's own 2026 history note
5. HERITAGE AUCTIONS — DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES
Founded 1976 · Global major · Worldwide (United States-led)
Ownership: Private partnership of its founders and managing partners — no outside owner announced; ownership state verified October 2026
Chief executive: Steve Ivy, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (co-founder)
Chair: Steve Ivy and Jim Halperin, Co-Chairmen (both titles published by the house); Greg Rohan is President
Sells: An online-led model at unmatched lot volume: weekly, monthly and signature auctions, almost all bidding online, with live signature sessions in Dallas, New York, Beverly Hills and Hong Kong; private sales and a retail coin and gallery business alongside
Departments: U.S. and World Coins; Currency; Comics and Comic Art; Sports; Entertainment and Music Memorabilia; Hollywood Memorabilia; Fine and Decorative Arts; American Art; Illustration Art; Jewellery and Timepieces; Luxury Accessories; Wine; Historical Manuscripts; Arms and Armor; Minerals and Nature; Video Games; Trading Cards
Salerooms: Dallas (headquarters gallery); New York; Beverly Hills; Hong Kong; Chicago; Palm Beach and London offices with gallery selling
Calendar: No single marquee week: a continuous ladder of weekly online auctions rising to Signature auctions through the year, with January FUN coin, spring and autumn comics and sports, and December luxury and holiday sales among its peaks — in words, the calendar is a conveyor, not a season
Scale: $2,158,204,321 total sales in 2025 — its fifth consecutive record year (Heritage release, 5 January 2026)
Access: Register free on HA.com, bid online, by telephone for signature sales, or in person; consign through category departments or the online evaluation route, with cash advances and consignment terms published per category
Website: ha.com · Contact: Department contacts, free auction evaluation and membership registration via ha.com · Phone: +1 214 528 3500 (Dallas) · Headquarters: 2801 W. Northwest Highway, Dallas, TX 75220, United States
Built from Dallas coin dealing — Heritage Numismatic Auctions from 1976, widened category by category into the world's largest collectibles auction house, with more than two million registered bidder-members. Scale in the middle: tens of thousands of lots a week and prices realised published for its archive, making HA.com a price database collectors in every category consult whether or not they bid there. Notes: Heritage's 'world's third-largest auction house' phrasing in its releases is by its own total-sales measure, printed here as a house claim
CHINA AND EAST ASIA
6. CHINA GUARDIAN — BEIJING, CHINA
Founded 1993 · National champion · China and East Asia
Ownership: Private Chinese company founded by Chen Dongsheng, who also founded Taikang Insurance Group; no change of control published — verified October 2026 from available English-language sources (see gaps)
Chief executive: Hu Yanyan, President (described in earlier house and press sources as chief executive and managing director; the house's senior executive)
Chair: Chen Dongsheng, founder. A separate current chairman title for the auction company is not published in English-language sources checked — named gap
Sells: Two great seasonal auctions — spring and autumn in Beijing, with a Hong Kong spring and autumn programme — plus quarterly and online sales; Chinese painting and calligraphy has historically been around 60% of turnover in reported profiles
Departments: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy; Chinese Ceramics; Chinese Works of Art and Classical Furniture; Oil Painting and Sculpture; Rare Books and Rubbings; Jewels and Watches; Postage Stamps and Coins; Modern Design
Salerooms: Beijing (Guardian Art Center); Hong Kong
Calendar: Spring auctions in Beijing in May–June and Hong Kong in spring, autumn auctions in Beijing in November–December and Hong Kong in autumn, with quarterly sales between — the twin-season rhythm of the mainland market
Scale: Not published as a single audited annual total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone or by written bid after registering at preview and posting the deposit published per sale; Hong Kong sales also take online bidding. Consign through department specialists in Beijing, Hong Kong or overseas offices
Website: cguardian.com · Contact: Department contacts and consignment routes via cguardian.com (Chinese and English) · Phone: Not published in English-language sources checked — see contact route · Headquarters: Guardian Art Center, No. 1 Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China
Founded in May 1993 by Chen Dongsheng — mainland China's first art auction company of the modern era, modelled deliberately on Christie's and Sotheby's, and housed since 2017 in the Guardian Art Center beside the Forbidden City. The scholar-house of the Chinese market: its own museum-grade building combines saleroom, exhibition halls and the Guardian Art Center's cultural programme. Notes: English-language corporate disclosure is limited; leadership titles are printed with their vintage and the chairman gap is named rather than filled
7. POLY AUCTION — BEIJING, CHINA
Founded 2005 · National champion · China and East Asia
Ownership: China Poly Group Corporation, a central state-owned enterprise under SASAC, through Poly Culture Group (listed in Hong Kong) — verified October 2026
Chief executive: Zhao Xu, Executive Director of Beijing Poly International Auction and chief executive of Poly Auction Hong Kong (house and conference profiles); group-level chief executive titles sit with Poly Culture
Chair: Jiang Yingchun, Chairman of Poly Auction (and a director and former chief executive of Poly Culture Group), as titled in the houses' joint-sale releases with Phillips — dated source, see notes
Sells: Spring and autumn auctions in Beijing and Hong Kong in Chinese and international categories, online sales, and joint Hong Kong modern and contemporary sales staged with Phillips in past seasons
Departments: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy (ancient and modern); Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art; Modern and Contemporary Art; Jewels and Watches; Rare Books; Wine; Antiquities; Chinese Oil Painting
Salerooms: Beijing (New Poly Plaza); Hong Kong
Calendar: Beijing spring auctions in late May–June and autumn auctions in November–December, Hong Kong spring and autumn sales, and online seasons between — the same twin-season mainland rhythm as its Beijing rival, run in parallel weeks
Scale: Not published as a single audited annual total for the auction company in sources checked, October 2026; Poly Culture Group publishes segment results in its Hong Kong listing filings
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone or by written bid after preview registration and deposit as published per sale; Hong Kong sales accept online bidding. Consign through Beijing or Hong Kong specialists
Website: polyauction.com · Contact: Department contacts and consignment routes via polyauction.com · Phone: Not published in sources checked — see contact route · Headquarters: New Poly Plaza, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China (Poly Auction, Beijing)
Beijing Poly International Auction, founded 2005 inside the state-owned China Poly Group, rose within a decade to trade places with China Guardian at the head of the mainland market and to stand among the world's largest art auction houses by fine-art turnover in reported rankings. State backing with museum depth: the Poly Museum inside its headquarters displays recovered national treasures, and the group's cultural arm runs theatres and cinemas alongside the saleroom. Notes: The chairman title for Jiang Yingchun is sourced to 2020–21 joint-sale releases; a 2026 re-confirmation in English was not found and is a named gap. Zhao Xu's executive-director role is the house's longest-published operating title
8. SEOUL AUCTION — SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
Founded 1998 · National champion · South Korea and East Asia
Ownership: Listed company (KOSDAQ: 063170). Largest shareholder in 2022 reporting: director Lee Ho-jae at 13.3%, with Vice Chair and CEO Lee Ok-kyung holding 6.4%; a reported Shinsegae approach in 2022 did not produce a change of control in sources checked — ownership state as verified October 2026, with the vintage of the shareholding figures flagged
Chief executive: Lee Ok-kyung, Vice Chair and Chief Executive Officer (also chief executive of Gana Art Center)
Chair: A chairman title separate from the vice-chair/CEO role is not confirmed in English-language sources checked — named gap. Lee Ho-jae is the largest shareholder and a director
Sells: Live spring and autumn auctions in Seoul, a Hong Kong programme begun in 2008, frequent online auctions including entry-level 'My First Collection' sales, and private sales through Gana Art galleries
Departments: Korean Modern and Contemporary Art; Korean Antiques and Ceramics; Western Modern and Contemporary Art; Jewellery; Watches; Wine; Design
Salerooms: Seoul (Pyeongchang-dong headquarters); Seoul (Gangnam Center, Sinsa-dong); Hong Kong (SA+, H Queen's — opened 2018)
Calendar: Major live auctions in Seoul in spring and autumn, Hong Kong sales in the international seasons, and online auctions through the year including themed beginner sales
Scale: Not published as a single annual sales total in English-language sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone or online after membership registration on the house's site. Consign through Seoul or Hong Kong specialists; consignment applications are published online
Website: seoulauction.com · Contact: Department contacts and consignment routes via seoulauction.com (Korean and English) · Phone: +82 2 2075 4422 (Seoul, company listings) · Headquarters: 24 Pyeongchang 30-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
South Korea's first art auction house, founded in 1998 by the Gana Art circle, listed on KOSDAQ in 2008 — the year of Korea's first art-market boom — and still the country's largest house by reported market share. A listed auction house — rare in this guide — whose gallery parent, Gana Art, has represented Korean masters since before the auction market existed. Notes: Shareholding percentages are 2022 figures from The Art Newspaper's reporting of Dong-A Ilbo data and are printed with that date; no 2026 English-language update was found
FRANCE
9. ARTCURIAL — PARIS, FRANCE
Founded 2002 · National champion · France and Europe
Ownership: Artcurial Group — main shareholder the Dassault Group (Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault), with founder Nicolas Orlowski; the group also holds John Taylor luxury real estate and Arqana thoroughbred sales — verified October 2026
Chief executive: Nicolas Orlowski, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Artcurial Group (both titles in the house's 2026 United States announcement)
Chair: Nicolas Orlowski — the chairman and CEO roles are held by the same person (see CEO field)
Sells: Live and online auctions in more than 25 specialist departments from its Paris headquarters hotel, with sales in Monaco, Marrakech and Basel (Beurret Bailly Widmer, acquired 2023) and a first United States motor-car sale announced for Miami in February 2027
Departments: Old Master and 19th Century Art; Modern and Contemporary Art; Artcurial Motorcars (Rétromobile sale); Jewellery; Watches; Wine and Spirits; Comics; Design; Asian Art; Islamic Art; Orientalism; Books and Manuscripts; Furniture and Works of Art; Hermès and Luxury Accessories; Urban Art
Salerooms: Paris (Hôtel Marcel Dassault, 7 rond-point des Champs-Élysées); Monaco; Marrakech; Basel (Beurret Bailly Widmer)
Calendar: A Paris season running almost continuously, cresting at the February Rétromobile motor-car sale, the spring and autumn modern and contemporary weeks, the Monaco summer luxury sales and the December Paris sales
Scale: €208.5m auction sales in 2025, a house record (Artcurial results release); Artcurial Group consolidated turnover €1.75bn in 2025 including John Taylor and Arqana — the two figures measure different things and are not interchangeable
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by written order or live online after registration. Consign through department specialists or the online estimate service; valuation days are held in Paris and in the representative network
Website: artcurial.com · Contact: Department contacts, estimates and consignment routes via artcurial.com · Phone: +33 1 42 99 20 20 (Paris) · Headquarters: 7 rond-point des Champs-Élysées, Marcel-Dassault, 75008 Paris, France
Created in 2002 from the Artcurial gallery Nicolas Orlowski acquired from L'Oréal in 2001, uniting the auctioneers Briest, Poulain and Tajan's former team in the Hôtel Marcel Dassault on the Champs-Élysées roundabout. France's leading home-grown house by Paris fine-art sales in its own reporting, and the only house in this guide that is one arm of a group also selling racehorses and Riviera real estate. Notes: François Tajan, a founding auctioneer of the modern house, died in 2020; the Tajan in this guide's French section is the separate house he founded earlier (see Tajan entry)
10. TAJAN — PARIS, FRANCE
Founded 1994 · Regional · France
Ownership: Rodica Seward (owner since 2004, acquired from LVMH) — no change published; verified October 2026 from available sources
Chief executive: Rodica Seward, Chief Executive (titled CEO and president in house and press sources)
Chair: No separate chairman is published — the owner-chief executive is the house's named head; named gap
Sells: More than 60 live sales a year from its Art Deco headquarters hotel in the 8th arrondissement, plus online sales and an annual Monte Carlo sale; private sales through Tajan ArtStudio alongside exhibitions
Departments: Modern and Contemporary Art; Old Master Paintings and Drawings; 20th Century Decorative Arts; Asian Art; Islamic Art; Jewellery; Watches; Furniture and Works of Art; Antiquities; Wine and Spirits; Comics; Books
Salerooms: Paris (37 rue des Mathurins); Monte Carlo (annual sale)
Calendar: Two Paris seasons — spring and autumn — of catalogued sales across all departments, a summer Monte Carlo auction, and online sales between
Scale: Not published as an annual total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by written bid or online after registration. Consign through specialists at the Paris headquarters; estimates offered in person at preview and by online form
Website: tajan.com · Contact: Department contacts and estimate requests via tajan.com · Phone: +33 1 53 30 30 30 (Paris) · Headquarters: 37 rue des Mathurins, 75008 Paris, France
Founded by Jacques Tajan in 1994, sold to LVMH in 2000 and acquired in 2004 by Rodica Seward, who has run it since as a deliberately Paris-based, high-service boutique house — her stated model is international in clients, local in structure. The boutique counter-model, stated by its owner in print: no world office network, one Paris building, global bidding by website and telephone. Notes: Leadership sourcing is older than for the global majors — the owner-CEO's tenure is long and unchallenged in sources, but a 2025–26 house release re-confirming titles was not found; flagged as a verification-vintage gap
11. CORNETTE DE SAINT CYR — PARIS, FRANCE
Founded 1973 · Regional · France and Belgium
Ownership: Bonhams (since 2022); group ownership Pemberton Asset Management from October 2025
Chief executive: Arnaud Cornette de Saint Cyr, Director (the family's senior executive in the house in acquisition-era sources; a formal CEO title is not used — printed as published, vintage flagged)
Chair: No separate chairman published — named gap; group chairmanship sits at Bonhams
Sells: Live and online auctions in Paris and Brussels in modern and contemporary art, design and luxury categories, inside the Bonhams sale calendar
Departments: Modern and Contemporary Art; Design; Jewellery; Watches; Asian Art; Photographs; Urban Art
Salerooms: Paris (Avenue Hoche); Brussels
Calendar: Paris spring and autumn contemporary and design seasons within the Bonhams calendar, with online sales between
Scale: Not published as a standalone total, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone or online through Bonhams' platform after registration. Consign through the Paris or Brussels teams
Website: cornettedesaintcyr.fr · Contact: Department contacts via cornettedesaintcyr.fr and bonhams.com · Phone: Not published in sources checked in this pass — see contact route · Headquarters: 6 avenue Hoche, 75008 Paris, France
Founded in Paris in 1973 by Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr, the Drouot-era house his sons carried into the contemporary field; acquired by Bonhams in 2022 and trading as part of the Bonhams network in Paris and Brussels. The third Bonhams-network name in this guide, included to show the network whole: Paris contemporary sales under a Drouot family name, owned in London. Notes: Leadership sourcing is acquisition-era; the gap is named in the README. Included as a network entry rather than ranked independently
GERMANY AND CENTRAL EUROPE
12. DOROTHEUM — VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Founded 1707 · National champion · Central Europe
Ownership: Private Austrian ownership — sold by the Republic of Austria in 2001 to an Austrian investor group associated with its managing partners; no change published since — verified October 2026 from available sources
Chief executive: Martin Böhm, Managing Director (the house's senior executive for the auction business; Lucas Tinzl is the other managing partner named in house listings)
Chair: No separate chairman is published on the house's current English pages; some reference listings style Martin Böhm as chairman — the discrepancy is flagged here and the managing-director title, which the house itself uses, is printed
Sells: Live auctions in the Palais, a very large programme of online auctions, private sales, and a retail business in jewellery and art that distinguishes it from pure auction houses; several hundred auctions a year across its categories
Departments: Old Master Paintings; 19th Century Paintings; Modern Art; Contemporary Art; Jewels; Watches; Silver; Porcelain and Glass; Furniture; Design; Classic Motor Vehicles; Coins, Medals and Orders; Books; Tribal Art; Wine
Salerooms: Vienna (Palais Dorotheum, Dorotheergasse); Prague; Milan; Rome; Munich; Düsseldorf; Brussels representative salerooms and offices
Calendar: Four great Vienna auction weeks a year — spring, summer, autumn and winter — each gathering Old Masters, modern and contemporary, jewels and design, with online auctions running almost daily between them
Scale: Not published — the house does not publish an annual sales total (stated in trade coverage)
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by written commission or live on Dorotheum Live after registration. Consign through experts in Vienna or the branch network, or start with the online valuation form; the retail shops buy and sell outright as well
Website: dorotheum.com · Contact: Expert contacts, valuation form and saleroom details via dorotheum.com · Phone: +43 1 515 60 0 (Vienna) · Headquarters: Dorotheergasse 17, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Founded by Emperor Joseph I in 1707 as Vienna's Versatz- und Fragamt; moved into the former Dorotheer convent that gave it its name, rebuilt in the Palais Dorotheum of 1901, state-owned for centuries and privatised in 2001. The imperial survivor: three centuries old, still selling from its palace a few streets from the Hofburg, and Continental Europe's largest auction house by premises and programme breadth in its own description. Notes: Managing-partner titles in German-language house materials do not map one-to-one onto CEO/chairman; both men named are the published leadership
13. KETTERER KUNST — MUNICH, GERMANY
Founded 1954 · National champion · Germany and Continental Europe
Ownership: Robert Ketterer, owner (family ownership) — house statement: 'Robert Ketterer is owner and CEO of Ketterer Kunst'
Chief executive: Robert Ketterer, owner and Chief Executive Officer (auctioneer)
Chair: No separate chairman — a family house led by its owner; named gap by structure
Sells: Twice-yearly Munich live auctions of 19th-century, modern, post-war and contemporary art and rare books, monthly online auctions, and private sales; in 2022 the first German house to pass €100m in a year (house figures)
Departments: 19th Century Art; Modern Art; Post-War Art; Contemporary Art; Rare Books; Prints; Hermann Gerlinger and other single-collection sales
Salerooms: Munich (Joseph-Wild-Strasse); Hamburg branch
Calendar: Two Munich auction weeks a year, in June and December, with previews touring Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Zurich, and monthly online auctions between
Scale: €103m annual total in 2022, the house's record year (house release). A 2024 or 2025 annual total: not published in sources checked
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by written bid or live online after registration. Consign through Munich or Hamburg experts; the house offers free valuations in person and online
Website: kettererkunst.com · Contact: Client and press contacts and valuation route via kettererkunst.com / kettererkunst.de · Phone: +49 89 55244 0 (Munich) · Headquarters: Joseph-Wild-Str. 18, 81829 Munich, Germany
Founded in Stuttgart in 1954 by Wolfgang Ketterer and built in Munich into Germany's leading art auction house for 19th- to 21st-century art and rare books, still family-owned in the second generation. Germany's number one by art-auction turnover in the house's segment for nine consecutive seasons to 2022, achieved with deliberately few, heavily researched lots per sale. Notes: Scale figure is dated 2022 and labelled as such; no newer annual total was published in sources checked
14. GRISEBACH — BERLIN, GERMANY
Founded 1986 · Regional · Germany
Ownership: Its managing partners — from 1 January 2023 Daniel von Schacky as major shareholder and Diandra Donecker as largest minority shareholder, with Micaela Kapitzky and Markus Krause (house generational-change release)
Chief executive: Diandra Donecker, Managing Director and Partner (described as the house's chief executive in profiles; Daniel von Schacky leads the management board — see Chair field)
Chair: Daniel von Schacky, Chairman of the Management Board (from 1 January 2023, house release); Bernd Schultz, founder, chairs the advisory board
Sells: Four seasonal live auctions a year in the Fasanenstrasse villa, online-only auctions (a format Donecker introduced at the house), and private sales
Departments: Modern Art; Post-War and Contemporary Art; 19th Century Art; Photography; Orangerie — selected objects; Works of Art and Interior; Estates
Salerooms: Berlin (Villa Grisebach, Fasanenstrasse 25)
Calendar: Spring and autumn auction weeks in Berlin, each with modern, post-war and contemporary, 19th-century and photography sales, a summer and a winter online programme, and the Orangerie sales between
Scale: Not published as an annual total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by written bid or live online after registration. Consign through the Berlin departments or regional representatives; estimates in person and online
Website: grisebach.com · Contact: Specialist contacts — the house publishes named experts with direct lines — and valuation route via grisebach.com · Phone: +49 30 885 915 0 (Berlin) · Headquarters: Fasanenstraße 25, 10719 Berlin, Germany
Founded in Berlin in 1986 as Villa Grisebach by Bernd Schultz and four colleagues from the art trade; the Berlin house for German modernism, re-led from 2023 by the next generation of its partners. The partnership model preserved: four partners who are all working specialists run the house, and its photography department is led by the managing director herself. Notes: German managing-director and management-board titles are printed as the house publishes them; 'CEO' profiles of Donecker are noted rather than substituted for the house titles
15. VAN HAM — COLOGNE, GERMANY
Founded 1959 · Regional · Germany
Ownership: Markus Eisenbeis, owner (second-generation family business) — house annual reports
Chief executive: Markus Eisenbeis, Managing Director and owner (auctioneer, publicly appointed and sworn)
Chair: No separate chairman — a family house led by its owner-managing director; named gap by structure
Sells: Live auctions in Cologne and more than 40 curated online-only auctions a year — the German market leader for online art sales and for jewels and watches in the house's reporting
Departments: Modern and Contemporary Art; Old Masters and Impressionism; Works of Art and Art Nouveau; Fine Jewels and Watches; Asian Art; Carpets; Photography; Corporate and private collection sales
Salerooms: Cologne (Hitzelerstrasse 2, Bayenthal)
Calendar: Spring and autumn live auction weeks in Cologne across all departments, with online-only auctions running through the year at roughly weekly rhythm
Scale: Around €56m total sales in 2025, a house record year; €51.2m in 2024 (Van Ham annual reports, house figures)
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by written bid or live online after registration. Consign through Cologne departments; free valuations in person, at valuation days and online
Website: van-ham.com · Contact: Department contacts, press office and valuation form via van-ham.com · Phone: +49 221 92 58 62 0 (Cologne) · Headquarters: Hitzelerstraße 2, 50968 Cologne, Germany
Founded in Cologne in 1959 by Carola van Ham, Europe's first woman auctioneer in the standard house account; run since the 1996 generational change by her son Markus Eisenbeis. The collection-sale specialist of the German market — gallery and corporate estates, from Achenbach to Galerie Thomas (December 2025), are its signature consignments. Notes: Turnover figures are the house's own annual-report figures and are labelled as such
16. LEMPERTZ — COLOGNE, GERMANY
Founded 1845 · Regional · Germany and Europe
Ownership: The Hanstein family (Henrik Hanstein and family) — family ownership, no outside owner published
Chief executive: Henrik Hanstein (Prof.), owner and head of the house, auctioneer — December 2025 marked 50 years of his career as an auctioneer (house sale '50 Lots — My Choice')
Chair: No separate chairman published — a family house led by its owner; Isabel Apiarius-Hanstein works alongside as the next generation. Named gap by structure
Sells: Around 14 catalogued live auctions a year in Cologne, Brussels and Berlin plus online sales; a member of International Auctioneers, the alliance of eight independent houses that also includes Swann and Lyon & Turnbull peers in this guide
Departments: Old Masters; Modern Art; Contemporary Art; Photography; Asian Art; Decorative Arts; Jewellery; Books and Manuscripts; Tribal Art; Design
Salerooms: Cologne (Neumarkt 3); Brussels; Berlin presentations
Calendar: Spring and autumn auction series in Cologne — Old Masters, modern, contemporary, photography, Asian and decorative arts in sequence — with book and tribal sales in spring and previews in Brussels, Munich and Berlin
Scale: Not published as a current annual total in sources checked, October 2026 (a €51m turnover figure dates to 2012 and is not printed as current)
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by written bid or live online after registration. Consign through Cologne or Brussels experts; free and non-binding valuations are offered in person and through the online form
Website: lempertz.com · Contact: Consignment address consign@lempertz.com and department contacts via lempertz.com · Phone: +49 221 92 57 29 0 (Cologne) · Headquarters: Neumarkt 3, 50667 Cologne, Germany
Roots in a Bonn book and art business of 1845 and the Cologne Kunsthaus of 1902; led since 1970 by Henrik Hanstein, fifth generation of the family — the house styles itself the world's oldest family-run auction house, now in its sixth generation. Continuity as the product: one family, one Cologne building, and the German market leadership in fields such as KPM porcelain built sale by sale over decades. Notes: Founding is dated 1845 by the book-trade origin the house claims; the Cologne auction house in its present form is younger — both facts are stated rather than a single smoothed date being asserted
THE UNITED STATES — NATIONAL, DESIGN AND SPECIALIST HOUSES
17. FREEMAN'S — PHILADELPHIA / CHICAGO, UNITED STATES
Founded 1805 · Regional · United States
Ownership: Private United States auction group formed by the 2024 merger; no outside controlling owner announced — verified October 2026
Chief executive: Alyssa D. Quinlan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO of Hindman from January 2023, then of the merged company; re-confirmed in the house's 2025 rebrand release)
Chair: Jay Frederick Krehbiel, Executive Chairman (titled at the 2024 merger; a 2026 re-confirmation was not found — vintage flagged). Alasdair Nichol was co-deputy chair at the merger
Sells: Live and online auctions, appraisals, private sales and art advisory aimed deliberately at the American middle market — single-owner and estate collections valued in the $1–5m range in the house's own positioning; first-half 2025 sales rose 9% with an 89% sell-through rate (house figures)
Departments: American Art; European Art; Modern and Contemporary Art; Asian Art; Jewellery and Watches; Silver; Furniture and Decorative Arts; Rare Books and Manuscripts; Design; Arms and Armour and Militaria (Cowan's heritage); Luxury Accessories
Salerooms: Philadelphia; Chicago; Cincinnati; New York (32 East 67th Street); Palm Beach; Denver (at the merger; the house reports locations in 16 cities in 2025)
Calendar: A continuous national calendar of departmental and single-owner sales through the year, with spring and autumn fine-art and jewellery seasons in Philadelphia, Chicago and New York and online sales between
Scale: Not published as a combined annual total. At the merger, Hindman's 2023 sales were reported at $99.7m and Freeman's at an estimated $32m (Artnet/ArtNews reporting, January 2024) — printed as dated components, not a current total
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by absentee bid or online after registration. Consign through any saleroom or regional office; complimentary auction estimates and estate services are published routes in
Website: freemansauction.com · Contact: Department contacts, appraisal and consignment routes via freemansauction.com · Phone: +1 215 563 9275 (Philadelphia) · Headquarters: 2400 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, United States; Chicago saleroom, West Hubbard Street, Chicago
Freeman's, founded in Philadelphia in 1805 and America's oldest auction house, merged in January 2024 with Chicago's Hindman (founded 1982) and Cincinnati's Cowan's; the combined Freeman's | Hindman rebranded under the single Freeman's name in 2025 for its 220th anniversary. America's coast-to-coast regional: the merger created the largest multi-saleroom presence of any United States house while keeping three founding names' specialist teams. Notes: The task brief's 'Freeman's | Hindman' is the 2024–25 trading style; the current brand is Freeman's alone (house release, 2025) and the entry is filed under the current name with the merger name retained in the history
18. RAGO WRIGHT — CHICAGO, UNITED STATES
Founded 1982 (Wright, as Wright20 lineage) / 1994 (Rago) · Specialist · United States
Ownership: Independently owned partnership network — 'a network of independently owned art and design brands' in the company's own description; no outside owner announced
Chief executive: Richard Wright, Chief Executive Officer of the combined company (in post through the Toomey and PAI transactions)
Chair: No chairman published. David Rago is President of Rago and a partner of the combined company — the two named heads are printed with their own titles
Sells: Live and online curated auctions of design and art from Chicago, Lambertville, Los Angeles and New York, each brand keeping its own sales and specialists on shared technology and a shared database
Departments: Modern Design; Post-War and Contemporary Art; Early 20th Century Design and Arts and Crafts (Toomey); Ceramics and Art Pottery; Glass; Jewellery; Watches; Vintage Posters (PAI); Fine Art (LAMA)
Salerooms: Chicago (Wright headquarters); Lambertville, New Jersey (Rago); Los Angeles (LAMA); New York presentations
Calendar: Design seasons in spring and autumn in Chicago — the Important Design sales anchor the year — with Lambertville, Los Angeles and poster sales and online auctions through the year
Scale: More than $100m in annual sales across the network (company description at the 2024 PAI acquisition, Business Wire)
Access: Bid live online, by telephone or in the room after registering with the relevant brand. Consign through brand specialists; each brand publishes its own consignment and valuation route
Website: ragowright.com · Contact: Brand contacts (Rago, Wright, LAMA, Toomey, PAI) and consignment routes via ragowright.com · Phone: +1 312 563 0020 (Chicago, Wright) · Headquarters: 1440 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago, IL 60642, United States (Wright); 333 N. Main Street, Lambertville, NJ (Rago)
A network built by merger: Rago (Lambertville, founded by David Rago) and Wright (Chicago, founded by Richard Wright) joined in 2019, then LA Modern Auctions (2021), Toomey & Co. (2022) and Poster Auctions International (2024) — five stand-alone houses on one platform. The design market's consolidator with the opposite instinct to Bonhams': brands merge back offices and bidding, never their names or their catalogues' look. Notes: Wright and Rago are filed as one entry because they trade, bid and report as one company; their founding years and founders are stated separately in the history
19. SWANN AUCTION GALLERIES — NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
Founded 1941 · Specialist · United States
Ownership: The Lowry family (private, family-owned since 1970)
Chief executive: Nicholas D. Lowry, President and Principal Auctioneer (president since January 2001; the house's chief executive in function — Swann uses the president title, printed as published)
Chair: George S. Lowry, Chairman (took the title in 2001 on his son's becoming president)
Sells: More than 35 catalogued live auctions a year, all in works on paper and related fields, with online bidding on every sale; no generalist departments — the specialism is the business
Departments: Rare Books and Autographs; Manuscripts; Maps and Atlases; Photographs and Photobooks; Prints and Drawings; Vintage Posters; Illustration Art; African-American Fine Art; Printed and Manuscript African Americana (annual sale)
Salerooms: New York (104 East 25th Street)
Calendar: A steady specialist calendar through the year — poster, photograph, book, map and print sales in rotation, with the African-American fine art and African Americana sales as annual fixtures in spring and autumn
Scale: Not published as an annual total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by absentee bid or online after registration. Consign through department specialists; the house publishes consignment deadlines per catalogue
Website: swanngalleries.com · Contact: Specialist contacts and consignment route via swanngalleries.com · Phone: +1 212 254 4710 (New York) · Headquarters: 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, United States
Founded in New York in 1941 by book dealer Benjamin Swann; bought in 1970 by George S. Lowry and run today by the third Lowry generation — the oldest continually operating New York specialist house and the world's largest for works on paper in its own description. Depth over breadth: departments such as vintage posters and African-American art were built at Swann decades before the majors created theirs, and its president is a poster appraiser on PBS's Antiques Roadshow. Notes: Titles are the house's own (President/Chairman); no CEO title is used at Swann and none is invented here
20. STACK'S BOWERS GALLERIES — COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 1933 (Stack's lineage) · Specialist · United States and worldwide (numismatics)
Ownership: A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRK) — definitive agreement February 2025 to acquire 100% of parent Spectrum Group International; the house continues as a standalone, wholly owned subsidiary with its leadership intact (acquisition releases)
Chief executive: Greg Roberts, Chief Executive Officer
Chair: No separate chairman of the auction house is published — named gap; the parent company's board sits at A-Mark level
Sells: Live Showcase and Rarities Night auctions, weekly online iAuctions and Collectors Choice auctions, plus a retail and wholesale rare-coin business (SBG Direct and the New York gallery) — auctions and dealing under one roof
Departments: United States Coins; World Coins; Ancient Coins; United States Currency and World Paper Money; Tokens and Medals; Bullion and Precious Metals (through the parent group)
Salerooms: Costa Mesa, California (headquarters galleries); New York (470 Park Avenue gallery); Hong Kong and Philadelphia selling operations
Calendar: Showcase auctions tied to the great American coin conventions through the year — January, spring and the August ANA season among them — Rarities Night sessions within them, and weekly online auctions without pause
Scale: Not published as a standalone annual auction total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room at showcase sales, by telephone, or online after registration; weekly iAuctions are online only. Consign through numismatic departments or the New York and California galleries; the house also buys outright
Website: stacksbowers.com · Contact: Department contacts, consignment and retail routes via stacksbowers.com · Phone: Not published as a single headquarters line in sources checked — see contact route and the New York gallery via the website · Headquarters: 1550 Scenic Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, United States (headquarters); 470 Park Avenue, New York (gallery)
The union, completed in 2011, of Stack's of New York (coin dealers and auctioneers since the 1930s) with Bowers and Merena and Spectrum Numismatics — the auction house of the Eliasberg, Norweb and Ford collections. The numismatic archive: its combined predecessors' prices realised — more than 1.5 million records in the house's own account — make it the reference library of the coin market as well as its saleroom. Notes: The A-Mark transaction is the guide's clearest 2025 ownership change outside the art majors and is dated February 2025 (agreement) in the sources
21. IGAVEL AUCTIONS — NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
Founded 2003 · Specialist · United States (online)
Ownership: Lark Mason Associates — founder-owned, independent
Chief executive: Lark Mason, Founder and President (the platform's and the house's named head; no separate CEO title is used)
Chair: No chairman published — named gap by structure
Sells: Online-only timed auctions, typically running two to three weeks per sale, for its own Lark Mason Associates sales and for associate sellers; no live rostrum sales — the timed format is the house
Departments: Asian Works of Art (the house specialism); Ancient and Ethnographic Art; Fine and Decorative Arts; Jewellery; Silver; Furniture
Salerooms: No saleroom: previews at its New York premises (Harlem, East 120th Street in house releases) and its Texas base in New Braunfels
Calendar: Spring and autumn Asian art sales timed to Asia Week New York in March and the autumn Asia Week, with fine and decorative arts sales between — a calendar keyed to the collecting weeks of its specialism rather than to marquee art weeks
Scale: Not published, October 2026
Access: Register on iGavel, bid online during the sale window; lots close in sequence with extended bidding. Consign through Lark Mason Associates in New York or Texas; previews are held in person before each major sale
Website: igavelauctions.com · Contact: Seller and bidder contacts via igavelauctions.com and Lark Mason Associates · Phone: Not published in sources checked — see contact route · Headquarters: New York, New York, United States (East Harlem premises in house releases); New Braunfels, Texas
Created in 2003 by Lark Mason, Sotheby's former senior vice president for Chinese works of art and its early online-auctions director, as an online-only auction platform run with his house Lark Mason Associates. The online-first pioneer in this guide: founded the year the majors were still treating the internet as a bidding channel, by the man who had run Sotheby's first online auctions. Notes: Filed as a context entry, as briefed: iGavel's significance is its format and its Asian-art specialism, not a saleroom network
22. BONHAMS SKINNER — BOSTON / MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES
Founded 1962 · Regional · United States (New England)
Ownership: Bonhams (since March 2022); group ownership Pemberton Asset Management from October 2025
Chief executive: Karen M. Keane, Chief Executive Officer (partner and CEO in house sources at the acquisition; 2026 re-confirmation not found — vintage flagged)
Chair: No separate chairman published — named gap; group chairmanship sits at Bonhams
Sells: Live auctions in Marlborough and Boston and online sales, with a free, high-volume valuation and discovery-sale funnel that has always been Skinner's route to consignments
Departments: Americana; Fine Paintings; Furniture and Decorative Arts; Asian Art; Jewellery; Silver; Books and Manuscripts; Coins; Science and Technology; Discovery Sales
Salerooms: Marlborough, Massachusetts; Boston (Park Plaza presentations)
Calendar: Departmental sales through the year with spring and autumn Americana weeks as the peaks, and discovery and online sales continuously
Scale: Not published as a standalone total, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone or online after registration. Consign through Marlborough or Boston specialists; appraisal events are a published route in
Website: skinnerinc.com · Contact: Department contacts and appraisal route via skinnerinc.com and bonhams.com · Phone: Not published in sources checked in this pass — see contact route · Headquarters: 274 Cedar Hill Street, Marlborough, MA 01752, United States
Founded in 1962 by Robert W. Skinner as a New England antiques auctioneer; the Boston house for Americana, bought by Bonhams in March 2022 and trading as Bonhams Skinner in the Bonhams network. New England's house, in the network on the same terms as Stockholm and Copenhagen: its Americana prices are the regional market's reference, and its name stayed on the door. Notes: Filed as a network/regional entry; leadership vintage is acquisition-era and is flagged
MOTORING
23. RM SOTHEBY'S — BLENHEIM, ONTARIO, CANADA
Founded 1991 (RM Auctions; restoration business 1976) · Specialist · Worldwide (motoring)
Ownership: Privately held, founded and led by Rob Myers, with Sotheby's holding an ownership interest first set at 25% in 2015 with governance participation and options to increase. The current percentage in 2026 is not published — named gap, flagged rather than assumed
Chief executive: Rob Myers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (founder) — both titles held by the same person
Chair: Rob Myers (see CEO field)
Sells: Live collector-car auctions, online auctions, private sales, sealed-bid sales, financial services and its own restoration shop — the only house in this guide that can restore what it sells
Departments: Collector Cars (single-marque, single-owner and estate collections); Automobilia; Private Treaty Sales; RM Auto Restoration
Salerooms: No fixed saleroom circuit in the gallery sense: sales are staged at Monterey, Amelia Island, Arizona, Paris (Rétromobile week), London, Milan/Modena, Munich, Dubai and at its Ontario headquarters previews
Calendar: The concours calendar is the calendar: Arizona in January, Paris in February, Amelia Island in March, Monterey in August as the peak, London and European autumn sales, and Dubai in the winter season
Scale: Not published as an annual total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Register to bid per sale — in person, by telephone or online — with the financial verification the house publishes for high-value motor cars. Consign through car specialists in any office; private treaty and sealed formats are offered alongside the rostrum
Website: rmsothebys.com · Contact: Consignment, client services and office contacts via rmsothebys.com · Phone: +1 519 352 4575 (Ontario) · Headquarters: One Classic Car Drive, Blenheim, Ontario, Canada
Rob Myers's Ontario restoration shop of 1976 became RM Auctions in 1991 and the high-end collector-car market's leader; in 2015 Sotheby's took an ownership interest and the house became RM Sotheby's. Seven of the ten most expensive cars ever sold at auction in the house's own count, and a name that is itself the record of a partnership: RM kept its initials, Sotheby's added its name and its client list. Notes: The relationship to Sotheby's is a minority ownership interest plus a comprehensive partnership, not ownership of RM by Sotheby's; the entry states it in those terms and names the unpublished current stake as a gap
24. GOODING CHRISTIE'S — LOS ANGELES (SANTA MONICA), CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
Founded 2003 (as Gooding & Company) · Specialist · United States and worldwide (motoring)
Ownership: Christie's (Artémis) — wholly acquired 2024; the founding team and structure remained in place on the acquisition (Christie's release)
Chief executive: David Gooding, President (founder; the house's chief executive in function — the president title is the house's own and is printed as published)
Chair: No separate chairman of Gooding Christie's is published — named gap; group chairmanship sits at Christie's (see Christie's entry)
Sells: Live collector-car auctions at Pebble Beach and Amelia Island, geared-online sales, and private sales, now marketed inside Christie's luxury division; its August 2025 Pebble Beach sale totalled over $128m in reported coverage
Departments: Collector Cars; Automobilia; Private Sales
Salerooms: Sales staged at Pebble Beach, California and Amelia Island, Florida; headquarters and previews in Los Angeles (Santa Monica)
Calendar: Two live anchors — Amelia Island in March and Pebble Beach in August, the latter the centrepiece of Monterey Car Week — with online geared sales and private treaty through the year
Scale: Gooding contributed $234m of sales in 2025 within Christie's reported totals (Artnet reporting of Christie's 2025 results)
Access: Register to bid per sale in person, by telephone or online with the house's published verification. Consign through Los Angeles or London specialists; private sales are conducted year-round
Website: goodingco.com · Contact: Consignment and bidding contacts via goodingco.com · Phone: +1 310 899 1960 (Los Angeles) · Headquarters: Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States (house headquarters; full street address via the website's contact page)
Founded in 2003 by David Gooding, Christie's former motor-car managing director, and Dawn Ahrens; acquired by Christie's in September 2024 — Christie's largest acquisition in two decades in its then CEO's words — and rebranded Gooding Christie's. The mirror image of RM Sotheby's: where RM kept its independence and took a partner, Gooding sold outright — the two houses now embody the two ways a car auctioneer joins an art major. Notes: Street address is stated at district level here because the house's current contact page was not captured in this pass — named gap rather than a recalled address printed as verified
THE NORDIC HOUSES AND THE BONHAMS NETWORK
25. BUKOWSKIS — STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Founded 1870 · National champion · Nordic region
Ownership: Bonhams (since January 2022) — and therefore, from October 2025, Pemberton Asset Management at group level
Chief executive: Louise Arén, Chief Executive (in post at the Bonhams acquisition, which stated she would remain; a 2026 re-confirmation was not found — vintage flagged)
Chair: No separate chairman of Bukowskis is published — group chairmanship sits at Bonhams (Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard). Named gap
Sells: Live quality auctions in Stockholm and Helsinki and a large online programme — the house was the Nordic digital leader whose transformation attracted its buyer; online auctions run continuously alongside the seasonal live sales
Departments: Swedish and Scandinavian Art; Modern Art; Contemporary Art and Photography; Design; Asian Art; Silver; Jewellery and Watches; Carpets; Works of Art
Salerooms: Stockholm (Berzelii Park); Helsinki
Calendar: Spring and autumn quality-auction weeks in Stockholm — the Important Spring Sale and Important Winter Sale anchor the year — with online auctions closing every week
Scale: Turnover SEK 228m in 2020 (reported at the acquisition). A current annual total: not published in sources checked
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone or live online after registration. Consign through Stockholm or Helsinki specialists or the online valuation service
Website: bukowskis.com · Contact: Department contacts and valuation route via bukowskis.com · Phone: +46 8 614 08 00 (Stockholm) · Headquarters: Berzelii Park 1, 103 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Founded in Stockholm in 1870 by Polish nobleman Henryk Bukowski; Sweden's and the Nordic region's leading house, bought by Bonhams in January 2022 and trading under its own name in the Bonhams network. The Nordic record-holder for Scandinavian art — its Anders Zorn results are the market's reference points — inside a British group yet still the Swedish market's own house. Notes: CEO vintage is January 2022 (acquisition releases); flagged in the gaps
26. BRUUN RASMUSSEN — COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Founded 1948 · National champion · Denmark and the Nordic region
Ownership: Bonhams (since March 2022) — part of the Bonhams network, name retained; group ownership Pemberton Asset Management from October 2025
Chief executive: Jakob Dupont, Chief Executive Officer (in post at the acquisition, which stated he would remain CEO; 2026 re-confirmation not found — vintage flagged)
Chair: Jesper Bruun Rasmussen, Chairman Emeritus (chairman 1985–2022; his children Alexa and Frederik Bruun Rasmussen remain active in the company)
Sells: Live auctions from its Bredgade saleroom tradition and Nordhavn headquarters and a pioneering Danish online programme; more than 75,000 lots a year in the house's account at acquisition
Departments: Danish and Scandinavian Art; Modern Art and Design; Antiques and Furniture; Silver; Jewellery and Watches; Wine; Books; Arms and Armour; Stamps and Coins; Asian Art
Salerooms: Copenhagen (Nordhavn headquarters; Bredgade live-auction premises); Havnsund, Jutland online premises (house profile)
Calendar: Seasonal live auction weeks in Copenhagen through the year — spring, summer, autumn and the December sales — with online auctions closing continuously
Scale: Not published as an annual total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone or live online after registration. Consign through Copenhagen specialists or the online estimate service
Website: bruun-rasmussen.dk · Contact: Department contacts and valuation route via bruun-rasmussen.dk · Phone: +45 8818 1111 (Copenhagen) · Headquarters: Baltikavej 10, 2150 Nordhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark (headquarters)
Founded in Copenhagen in 1948 by Arne Bruun Rasmussen; chaired from 1985 by his son Jesper; a Danish television institution (the documentary series Auktionshuset since 2013) before its sale to Bonhams in March 2022. A national institution in the literal sense: its saleroom has been a Danish television programme for over a decade, and its chairman emeritus brought the hammer down on the Bonhams sale itself, in his own phrase. Notes: CEO/chairman-emeritus titles are from the March 2022 acquisition releases and are dated as such
BRITAIN AND INDIA — REGIONAL AND DIGITAL CHAMPIONS
27. LYON & TURNBULL — EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM (SCOTLAND)
Founded 1826 · Regional · United Kingdom
Ownership: Private Scottish company owned by its directors/shareholders; no outside controlling owner published
Chief executive: Gavin Strang, Managing Director (and Head of Valuations; the house's senior executive — title as published on its own specialist pages, 2026)
Chair: Iain Mackinnon, Chairman (board listing); Nick Curnow and Paul Roberts are Vice Chairmen
Sells: Live auctions in Edinburgh, London and Glasgow with worldwide online bidding, and a valuations business for sale, probate, tax and insurance that feeds the saleroom
Departments: Scottish Paintings and Sculpture (selling Scottish Colourists since 1926 — the house's centenary claim for the field); Fine Art; Design since 1860; Jewellery; Silver; Asian Art; Rare Books; Furniture and Works of Art; Whisky
Salerooms: Edinburgh (33 Broughton Place); London; Glasgow
Calendar: Scottish art sales in summer and winter, Design since 1860 in spring and autumn (the October 2026 sale falls in the bicentenary programme), and departmental sales through the year
Scale: Not published as an annual total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by commission bid or live online after registration. Consign through specialists; the house offers a free auction estimate service online and valuation days in Scotland and London
Website: lyonandturnbull.com · Contact: Specialist contacts — named experts with direct lines and emails — and free auction estimates via lyonandturnbull.com · Phone: +44 131 557 8844 (Edinburgh) · Headquarters: 33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh EH1 3RR, United Kingdom
Scotland's oldest auction house, from Jonathan Lyon's Edinburgh advertisements of 1826; in its bicentenary year in 2026, and the British partner in Freeman's international selling relationship and the International Auctioneers alliance. The Scottish Colourist house: a century of selling Peploe, Fergusson, Hunter and Cadell from a Georgian Edinburgh headquarters, in its 200th year as this guide is published. Notes: Chairman and board titles are from the company's published board listing; the managing director is the operating head
28. WOOLLEY & WALLIS — SALISBURY, UNITED KINGDOM
Founded 1884 · Regional · United Kingdom
Ownership: Private partnership/company owned by its directors; no outside owner published
Chief executive: Clive Stewart-Lockhart, Managing Director (appointed in the house's announcement, succeeding Paul Viney in the day-to-day role; title as published)
Chair: John Axford, Chairman (chairman in the house's 2020 calendar announcement, succeeding Paul Viney, who remained a director; a 2026 re-confirmation was not found — vintage flagged)
Sells: Live auctions from two Salisbury sites — Castle Street salerooms and the Old Sarum premises — with online bidding throughout; some 30-plus specialist sales a season in the house's calendar
Departments: Asian Art; Jewellery; Silver; Furniture and Works of Art; Paintings; Ceramics and Glass; Design; Tribal Art; Medals and Coins; Watches; Books
Salerooms: Salisbury (Castle Street); Salisbury (Old Sarum)
Calendar: A Salisbury season of departmental sales through the year, cresting with the spring and autumn Asian art sales, the jewellery and silver seasons and the furniture sales
Scale: Hammer turnover £19.82m in 2018, the last year of the Gazette's published regional survey in sources checked — printed as dated, not current. A current total: not published
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by commission bid or live online after registration. Consign through Salisbury departments; valuation days and house visits are published routes in
Website: woolleyandwallis.co.uk · Contact: Department contacts and valuation route via woolleyandwallis.co.uk · Phone: +44 1722 424500 (Salisbury) · Headquarters: 51–61 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3SU, United Kingdom
Salisbury auctioneers from 1884; for much of the past decade the highest-grossing regional saleroom in the United Kingdom in Antiques Trade Gazette's annual surveys, powered by its Asian art sales. Proof of the regional model at its best: a Wiltshire saleroom that has outsold every other British regional house on the strength of one great department — Asian art under its chairman, a specialist in the field. Notes: Chairman vintage (2020) is flagged; the managing-director appointment release is undated in the captured source and is printed without an invented year
29. DREWEATTS — NEWBURY (DONNINGTON PRIORY), UNITED KINGDOM
Founded 1759 · Regional · United Kingdom
Ownership: Gurr Johns (owner since 2017) — the advisory group that also owns Forum Auctions and Bloomsbury
Chief executive: Jonathan Pratt, Managing Director (the house's senior executive; title as published by the house)
Chair: No separate chairman of Dreweatts is published in sources checked — named gap; group leadership sits at Gurr Johns
Sells: Live country-house and departmental auctions at Donnington Priory and in London, timed online sales, and private sales, with the group's valuation and advisory services alongside
Departments: Fine Art; Furniture and Works of Art; Jewellery and Watches; Silver; Ceramics; Asian Art; Design; Wine; Books (with Bloomsbury); Country House Sales
Salerooms: Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire; London (Pall Mall presentations)
Calendar: A through-the-year calendar of departmental and house sales at Donnington, with spring and autumn fine art, jewellery and country-house seasons as its peaks
Scale: Not published as an annual total in sources checked, October 2026
Access: Bid in the room, by telephone, by commission bid or live online after registration. Consign through Newbury or London specialists; valuations offered in person and online
Website: dreweatts.com · Contact: Department contacts and valuation route via dreweatts.com · Phone: +44 1635 553553 (Newbury) · Headquarters: Donnington Priory, Donnington, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE, United Kingdom
From a Berkshire book business of 1759 to the Donnington Priory salerooms outside Newbury; bought in 2017 by the art advisory group Gurr Johns together with Bloomsbury Auctions. The country-house sale in modern form: Berkshire salerooms, London viewing, and an owner whose day job is advising the buyers its sales attract. Notes: Included as the representative of the British regional tier's ownership pattern — advisory-group ownership — distinct from the family and partnership houses around it
30. ASTAGURU — MUMBAI, INDIA
Founded 2008 · National champion · India
Ownership: AstaGuru Auction House Pvt. Ltd. — private, founder-led (the Sethi family/The Arts Trust circle); no outside controlling owner announced
Chief executive: Tushar Sethi, Chief Executive Officer (founder)
Chair: No chairman of AstaGuru itself is published in sources checked — Vickram Sethi is chairman of the associated ICIA institute, a different role, and the two are not conflated here. Named gap
Sells: Online-only timed auctions from Mumbai, with in-person previews and, from 2025–26, exhibition showcases (ShowKeen) in Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad and a London launch whose first United Kingdom sale closed in May 2026
Departments: Modern Indian Art; Contemporary Indian Art; Fine Jewellery and Heirloom Jewellery; Watches and Timepieces; Fine Silver; Textiles; Celebrity Memorabilia; Vintage and Classic Cars; Miniature Paintings; Rare Books; Opulent Collectibles
Salerooms: No saleroom — online only, with Mumbai gallery previews and the 2026 London presence
Calendar: A rolling online calendar through the year — modern Indian art sales, no-reserve editions, jewellery, timepiece and collectibles sales in rotation, roughly monthly — rather than two live seasons
Scale: Annual revenue reported as growing from Rs 95 crore to Rs 300 crore over five years to 2022 (Forbes India interview with the CEO) — printed as dated and sourced; a 2025 figure: not published in sources checked. The house claims over 40% share among Indian auction houses in its 2026 London release
Access: Register and verify on astaguru.com, bid online during each sale window; previews in Mumbai and on tour. Consign through category teams in Mumbai; the house publishes consignment calls per sale
Website: astaguru.com · Contact: Department contacts and bidder registration via astaguru.com · Phone: Not published in sources checked — see contact route · Headquarters: Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (the house's art-district base; full address via the website)
Founded in Mumbai in 2008 by Tushar Sethi with Vickram Sethi of The Arts Trust and the ICIA gallery — India's first online-only auction house, built for Indian modern and contemporary art and widened category by category since. The digital native of the national champions: an online-only house that became its country's market-share leader before it ever held a live sale, and carried Indian art's online model to London in 2026. Notes: The chairman gap is deliberate: the only chairman title in the group's sources belongs to a sister institution and is not transferred to the auction house here
NAMED GAPS
Nine houses in this guide publish no separate chairman for the auction house in the sources checked, and each entry says so rather than borrowing a title from an owner or a parent company. China Guardian and Poly Auction publish limited English-language corporate material, and their leadership titles are printed with their dates. The Bonhams-network chief executives in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Boston are sourced to the 2022 acquisition releases that kept them in post. Where a house publishes no annual sales total, the entry reads "not published." The full method, counts and gap list are in the README that accompanies the master CSV of this guide.
Original reporting and writing for LIKE® Magazine. Company figures are the houses' own, labelled and dated in each entry.