Biography
Scott Niichel is Sotheby’s Head of Auctions, Modern & Contemporary Art, Americas. In this role, he leads strategy and directly manages several fine arts sale teams and departments in New York; among these are Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Day, Curated and Discoveries sale teams, as well as departments of American Art, Latin American Art, Prints & Multiples and Photographs. Scott also advises several collectors of 20th-century art and sources consignments for Modern & Contemporary Evening and Day Auctions.
Scott joined Sotheby’s in 2006 and spent much of his tenure as a senior specialist of Impressionist & Modern Art, taking on several leadership roles including Co-Head of Department. He has been directly responsible for the sale, at auction and privately, of over $1 billion in art from important collections and estates across the globe, helping lead Sotheby’s to unprecedented market share in the broader category of Modern Art.
Prior to joining Sotheby’s, Scott held positions at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. He received degrees in Fine Arts and Russian Studies from Amherst College, where he focused on Western European Modern Art and its influence on Eastern European Art and its diaspora. He is now an active member of Amherst’s Mead Art Museum Advisory Board.
