Smeets is new chair of paintings
At the TEFAF Board of Trustees meeting in New York in May 2018, Paul Smeets was appointed to succeed Konrad Bernheimer as chair of paintings for TEFAF Maastricht. He will also become an Executive Committee member from the same date. He was appointed to TEFAF Board of Trustees in 2017.
Konrad Bernheimer, who, TEFAF says “has been keen to hand over the reins to a younger generation for some time”, will become chair emeritus paintings, working alongside Smeets for a transition period of one year. Bernheimer remains on the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees.
TEFAF Maastricht has three section chairs: Paul Smeets, chair of paintings - Christophe de Quénetain, chair of antiques, and Christophe Van de Weghe, chair of modern - each of whom is responsible for the selection process within their areas.
Smeets is the chairman of the Rob Smeets Old Master Paintings Gallery, based in Geneva. After university in Milan, he completed his education and training by working in the OMP department at Sotheby's in London. Established in 1989, his gallery deals mainly in Dutch, Flemish, and Italian Old Master paintings, specialising in the 16th and 17th centuries.
New chief executive at American auction house Leslie Hindman
Thomas Galbraith is the new chief executive of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has appointed Thomas Galbraith as chief executive officer. He succeeds Leslie Hindman, who founded the firm in Chicago in 1982 and reopened it in 2003 after being sold to Sotheby’s in 1997. The appointment follows a private equity investment.
Galbraith co-founded The Petraeus Group in 2010. The consulting firm has provided growth and start-up strategies to Steven Murphy & Partners, Art Dubai, Paddle8, Arthena and numerous other luxury brands and VC firms.
During this time, Galbraith also served as managing director of Paddle8 and prior to that as director of global strategy for Artnet. He was most recently appointed interim chief executive by the board of Twyla, a Google Ventures-backed start-up.
Galbraith said: “Leslie has built a formidable organisation and I very much look forward to working with the talented team and bringing a new level of innovation to the industry.”
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers conducts more than 60 auctions annually in categories such as fine jewellery and timepieces, contemporary art, 20th century design, rare books, furniture, decorative arts and more. The firm has salerooms and business offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Milwaukee, Naples, Palm Beach, Scottsdale and St Louis. It is a founding partner of live auction platform Bidsquare.
Mod Brit move to Portland Gallery
Phillippa Rivero Bosch has joined the Modern British department of Portland Gallery in London.
Portland Gallery has expanded its Modern British department with the appointment of Phillippa Rivero Bosch. Formerly gallery manager at Waterhouse & Dodd, she brings more than 10 years’ experience in the art world to the team.
She will be working with Lizzie Comba, who has also recently joined from Roseberys auction house. The Bennet Street, St James’s, gallery’s current Edward Seago exhibition is on display until July 6. The team are also working towards a Mary Fedden exhibition planned for January 2019.
Portland Gallery represents the estates of Edward Seago, Frances Cadell, John Maclauchlan Milne, Roland Collins and Mary Fedden.
Moving a different sort of cabinet in Cotswolds
Former parliament policeman Ben Farrier has joined Cotswolds saleroom Moore Allen & Innocent as a porter.
A former Houses of Parliament policeman has started a new job with Cotswolds auction house Moore Allen & Innocent.
As a Parliament police officer, one of Ben Farrier's jobs was to escort Baroness Thatcher from her car to her seat in the Lords. “When she was finished, she would request me personally. I'd have to stop whatever I was doing and escort her back to the car. We were on very friendly terms," he said.
He was also tasked with security of the prime minister’s office in the House of Commons. The room had to be checked several times a day, bringing Farrier into close contact with David Cameron, Gordon Brown, and Tony Blair.
He also used to take tea with John Major – both grew up in south-west London and attended Rutlish School, although the former premier graduated a few years before Farrier started.
When Farrier retired from the Metropolitan Police after 25 years' service – 15 on the beat in Wimbledon, policing the tennis tournament and Epsom Races as well as community policing, and 10 years at Parliament – and moved to the Cotswolds with his seven dogs.
He started attending Moore Allen & Innocent's Cirencester auctions to bid on furniture on behalf of a dealer and was bitten by the antiques bug. When the offer of a part-time job as a porter came up, he jumped at the chance.
