Biography
Catherine Foster Ellison is Head of Business Development for Sotheby’s Americas. In her role, she has strategic oversight for the region’s Collection Sale Management, Valuations, Fiduciary Client Group, Museum and Corporate Art Group, Sotheby’s Collectors Group, Restitution and Client Strategy departments. She joined Sotheby’s in 2014 as Senior Account Manager in Valuations, becoming Director of Account Management in 2017. In 2019, she became Head of Department before moving to her current role in 2021.
Catherine works closely with clients and fiduciaries at all stages in the life cycle of their collecting and is specialized in a wide range of complex valuation and collection management needs. In 2021, she oversaw the sale of The Passion of American Collectors: Property of Barbara and Ira Lipman and Avatars & Allegories: Property from the Estate of Pierre M. Schlumberger.More recently, she oversaw the landmark offering of The Wolf Family Collection, which was comprised of a 10-part sale series of live and online auctions dedicated to the American collecting spirit of Erving and Joyce Wolf, as well as a private sale of a suite of Frank Lloyd Wright architectural drawings to a renowned American foundation. With nearly 1,000 lots on offer, the collection was 98% sold with 61% of lots exceeding their high estimates.
Prior to joining Sotheby’s, Catherine was a Specialist and Head of Sale in the American Art department at Christie’s for six years. She began her career in the American Art department at Hirschl & Adler Galleries in New York, where she worked for three years. Catherine graduated cum laude from Middlebury College with a Bachelor of Arts in history of art and architectural studies. She maintains close ties to her alma mater by serving as a member of the Middlebury Museum & Visual Arts Council.
Read Less