Biography
George Wachter is Chairman of Sotheby’s North America and South America and Co-Chairman of Old Master Paintings Worldwide, with more than 50 years of experience in his field. He joined Sotheby’s London’s Old Master Paintings department in 1973. Four years later, he transferred to the New York office and was appointed Director in 1982. In 1995, George was selected as Managing Director of the Fine Arts Division. In his current role as Chairman, he helps to determine the strategy for the Sotheby’s Old Masters department in New York, London, and Paris, as well as broader business development in North and South America.
George has played a significant role in the sale of the most important collections of Old Master Paintings ever to come to auction, including paintings from the New-York Historical Society; the Estate of Peter Jay Sharp; the Estate of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; the Collection of the Late Count and Countess Guy du Boisrouvray; the Collection of Jaime Ortiz Patiño; Masterpieces from the Fisch Davidson Collection, and, most recently, the Collection of Jordan and Thomas A. Saunders III.
He has been integral in top Old Master Paintings sales in the past 25 years, such as Andrea Mantegna’s Descent into Limbo for $28.6 million in 2003; Rembrandt van Rijn’s Saint James the Greater for $25.8 million in 2007; Titian’s A Sacra Conversazione for $16.9 million in 2011; Joseph M.W. Turner’s Rome (from Mount Avetine) for $48 million in 2014, Sandro Boticelli’s Portrait of a young man holding a roundel for $92.2 million in 2021, and Sir Peter Paul Rubens’ Portrait of a Man as Mars for $26.2 million in 2023. In 2011, George helped to conclude the private sale of Nicolas Poussin’s Sacrament of Ordination (Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter) for $25 million to the Kimbell Art Museum. As Chairman, he has also been instrumental in important sales across collecting categories, including Claude Monet’s Nymphéas for $54 million (2015), and the historical Codex Sassoon for $38.1 million (2023).
A graduate of Brandeis University with a degree in art history, George completed Sotheby’s Works of Art Course in London before officially joining the company. He served as a member of The Council of The Frick Collection from 2004 until 2012. During that time, he became the Council’s Chairman and was elected to the Board of Trustees in June 2008. He currently serves on the Board of Overseers of The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and on the Paintings Conservation Council at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.
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