COURTESY SOTHEBY’S
America in 2017 is not a bad time to be a Wall Street lifer. Not only can you go from foreclosing on 90-year-old women with 27-cent payment errors to having the Republican party suspend committee rules in an attempt to get you confirmed as treasury secretary, but you can also make the leap from being a managing director at J.P. Morgan to being head of private sales at one of the world’s biggest auction houses.
Today, Sotheby’s announced that David Schrader—a contemporary art collector who has spent his career on the Street at outfits such as Bear Stearns and Credit Suisse before landing at J.P. Morgan—will become head of private sales, where he will work with the contemporary team to sell work the world over.
“David successfully combined a passion for art and business to build an enviable collection,” Amy Cappellazzo, chairman of Sotheby’s Fine Art Division, said in a statement. “Over a 20-year period, he systematically refined his collection through thoughtful acquisitions and sales, gaining the respect of prominent dealers and collectors. His talent as a seasoned market player and collector is a formidable addition to our team and his appointment is another step forward as we continue to harness the dynamic changes impacting the art world today.”
Schrader began collecting in the 1990s, the release states, and has “particularly deep” knowledge of the markets for Josef Albers, Mark Grotjahn, Yayoi Kusama, Sol LeWitt, Gerhard Richter, Ed Ruscha, Rudolf Stingel, Andy Warhol, Christopher Wool, and others.
The news comes at a time when Sotheby’s has been establishing new appendages rapidly, adding such amenities as art advisory firms, analytics machines, editorial platforms, fake-catching scientific outfits, artist-estate caretakers, and bespoke espresso bars.
Schrader will begin work “in the near future.”