Sarah Reynolds

We peek into the busy working life of specialist and head of sale of the British Art department at Christie’s, based in London

I always enjoyed visiting museums and stately homes with my parents and read History at university, where I enjoyed the cultural modules with people as the focus. I then took an MA in the History of Dress at the Courtauld Institute, specialising in Stuart portraiture. I’d never thought about becoming an auctioneer, but a family friend was in that world and I liked the idea of a job that mixes history with fast- paced business.

I joined Christie’s in 2008 – my first job – and learned the ropes from the bottom up. Now I’m head of sale for British and European Art, specialising in British Victorian and Impressionist painters and the Pre- Raphaelites such as Edward Burne-Jones and John Waterhouse. We hold two regular sales every year, in June and December, and run single collection sales, such as the Barney Eastwood sale last July, which included 40 Victorian oil paintings that had been prize possessions of the bookmaker.

I became an auctioneer in July 2018. It was very exciting and nervewracking to stand in Christie’s Great Room as people placed their bids, but I love the sense of occasion. I auctioned the Joe Setton Collection: from Pre- Raphaelites to Last Romantics sale last December. Most of the art was purchased in the 1970s and ‘80s when it was out of fashion, and the results massively exceeded expectations. Among the lots were paintings by several female artists, often viewed as somebody’s wife or somebody’s daughter, but very talented women in their own rights. We sold a painting by Marie Stillman, The Enchanted Garden, and set a new world record for a painting and drawing by Evelyn De Morgan. I was involved at every level, from research and cataloguing to marketing and auctioneering. I’m very lucky to have such a great job. christies.com