Leila de Vos van Steenwijk

Senior Specialist
Amsterdam

Romain Pingannaud

Department Head
London, South Kensington

Dr. Hugo K. Weihe

International Specialist Head
New York, Rockefeller Center

Dr. Hugo Weihe joined Christie’s in 1998 and established the Department of Indian and Southeast Asian Art in New York. His inaugural sale included works from the Muneichi Nitta Collection, among them a world record for the sale of a Lotus Bud-form censer ($717,500) now on loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1999, Dr. Weihe became responsible for leading the cross-departmental business getting team as Head of Asian Art in the Americas. His role was expanded in 2005 to International Director of Asian Art, leading strategy and initiatives across collecting categories with support from a worldwide team. Under Dr. Weihe’s leadership, the department has achieved numerous auction records in the field including a Sarnath sandstone figure of Buddha ($4.96 million); a 13th century Tibetan thangka ($1.5 million); a painting by Nainsukh of Guler ($2.2 million); and a Baphuon sandstone figure of Uma ($2.1 million). Works from notable private collections include: James and Marilyn Alsdorf; the Pan-Asian Collection; Robert Hatsfield Ellsworth; Thomas Solley; Dr. William Price; the Starr Collection; Julian Sherrier; Ariane Dandois; Dr. Pratapaditya Pal; Jack and Muriel Zimmerman, amongst many others. In the fast growing field of Modern and Contemporary Indian art, Dr. Weihe has established overall market leadership in the category at Christie’s, working with an international team based in New York, London and Mumbai. He auctioned the first work by a living Indian artist to sell for over $1 million with Tyeb Mehta’s Mahisasura ($1,548,000) in 2005. In time, Weihe has witnessed history in the making, with record prices achieved for Syed Haider Raza, Maqbool Fida Husain and Francis Newton Souza. Dr. Weihe was instrumental in securing the single-artist sale of work from the Estate of Francis Newton Souza in 2010. As one of Christie’s international auctioneers, Dr. Weihe commands auctions in New York, London and Hong Kong and supports numerous charities as an auctioneer including the Tibet House Foundation, and Pratham USA. Dr. Weihe received his Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Zürich where he also lectured on various subjects related to Asian art. His book, Die Ware Kunst (Art as Commodity), was published in 1989. In the early 1990s, he was the publisher of Artibus Asiae, one of the preeminent scholarly journals in the field of Asian art, based at the Museum Rietberg Zürich, in collaboration with the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Sandhya Jain-Patel

Specialist
New York, Rockefeller Center

Sandhya Jain Patel joined the Indian and Southeast Asian Department in 2005. Prior to joining Christie’s, Mrs. Jain Patel spent a year in India on a Fulbright Scholarship, studying the materials and techniques of handmade paper and miniature paintings, and their conservation in both the public and private sectors. She has worked previously as a fine arts conservator and research scientist at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and also at the Judith Eisenberg Textile Conservation Studios. Her publications include "Research and Treatment of a 15th century Nepalese Thangka," and "Innovations in the Materials and Techniques of Contemporary Indian Miniature Painting." Mrs. Jain Patel holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Art History from Rutgers University, a Master’s degree in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, and two Master’s degrees in Art History and in Fine Arts Conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. She speaks Hindi fluently and is proficient in Italian.

Tristan Bruck

Junior Specialist
New York, Rockefeller Center

Tristan Bruck joined the Indian & Southeast Asian department in 2011, having previously interned in the department in 2009. Prior to joining Christies, he worked with at The Pace Gallery in New York. Mr. Bruck holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Wesleyan University and furthered his studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He holds a Master’s degree in Modern Art, Connoisseurship, and History of the Art Market from Christie’s Education in New York.

Elena Tschigg

Regional Liaison
Zürich