The Tamesis
Samantha Anderson has joined Heritage Auctions as chief legal officer and executive vice president of business development and special projects. She comes from Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, where she was an attorney in the Art and Museum Law Group for three years. It’s the latest in a series of strategic moves by the Dallas-based auction house to further expand.
As chief legal officer, Anderson will handle internal legal matters for the company’s day-to-day operations and oversee transactional matters with clients.
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“It’s unusual to have an in-house counsel who has worked in the market,” she told art news. It may also be the first time an auction house has officially overlapped business development acumen and legal expertise in job titles. “The character acknowledges that these barrels are mixed together,” Anderson said.
Anderson joins at a time of significant growth for the auction house. Five years ago, Heritage had sales of $1.4 billion and a 7.9% market share among the world’s five largest auction houses (Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and Phillips). Their sales last year totaled $2.2 billion and their market share grew to 12.6%. This is largely driven by their coin and collectibles divisions, both of which have benefited from significant price increases in recent years.
An alumnus of Sotheby’s Trust Client Group and consulting firm Art Intelligence Global, Anderson will bring a trust and estate perspective to these growing markets, recognizing that today’s collectors purchase items across categories from fine art to luxury goods to collectibles. “There’s significant overlap and it’s becoming more apparent,” Heritage CEO Steve Ivy said. Arts News.
Other recent moves by Heritage include the promotion of Aviva Lehmann and Nick Nicholson to deputy chairpersons of the fine and decorative arts division respectively, as they eye expansion in these markets. They also just celebrated the opening of their new headquarters in Beverly Hills. Upcoming properties from the area include those of Matthew Perry and Carl Reiner.
“I’m excited to be back in the auction world,” Anderson said. “There will be lots of opportunities to think about new strategies and ways of doing things.”
