Sotheby’s Rainmaker Brooke Lampley Heads to Gagosian

Brooke Lampley, the global chairman and head of global fine art at Sotheby’s, will leave the auction house at the end of May for a Senior Director position at Gagosian, ARTnews has learned. 

Lampley joined Sotheby’s in 2018 after having worked as a specialist at Christie’s where, in 2015, she began leading that house’s Impressionist and Modern Art team in 2012. Over her six years at Sotheby’s Lampley has helped real in marquee worthy consignments and estates, including the Macklowe collection and a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution in 2021 and, much to the chagrin of Christie’s, the Emily Fisher Landau collection in 2023.

When asked about the move Lampley said “after 20 years of auctions, I am excited to experience another side of the art world, and to learn from the very best. My love of art is what drives me, and I am looking forward to getting closer to artists and thinking deeply about the evolution of a body of work.”

Besides overseeing Sotheby’s Contemporary, Modern, Photographs, 20th Century Design, and Prints departments, Lampley was a driving force behind Sotheby’s robust private sales department and invariably has a rolodex full of contacts that will be greatly appreciated and put to good use at Gagosian.

“Brooke is a proven secondary market operator with strong client relationships. She has a drive and entrepreneurial spirit that I think will fit in well at the gallery,” Larry Gagosian told ARTnews.

Lampley is slated to start at Gagosian this fall and will continue to be based in New York.

Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart informed the auction house’s staff of Lampley’s planned exit via an email on Wednesday evening, a copy of which was shared with ARTnews. “We are grateful to Brooke for her many contributions to the company over nearly seven years,” the letter read, “…we wish her all the best and look forward to collaborating with her in her next endeavor.”

According to the email, people under Lampley will report to Sebastian Fahey, the global fine art managing director. The Modern & Contemporary Americas team will continue to be led by David Galperin in Contemporary, Courtney Kremers in Private Sales, Julian Dawes in Impressionist and Modern, and Scott Niichel across the middle market Modern and Contemporary categories, the email confirmed.