Graduate Trainees
It has been a year since a number of our alumni were chosen for the 2017 Graduate Trainee Programme at Christie’s, so we thought we would check in and see what they have been working on.
Paul Urtasun
My second long rotation was with the Post-War and Contemporary Art department (PWC). The rotation started with our main auction season, which saw me researching works for our March Day sale. I then focused on writing catalogue texts for our annual Italian sale, which took place in Milan in April. I relished the opportunity to delve into books and examine a wide array of Arte Povera and Conceptual Artworks, which are favourites of mine. I was also part of the team working on our Photographs sale which took place on the 17 May, once again researching and writing catalogue texts. A particular highlight of my rotation in PWC was the month I was lucky enough to spend in our Paris office researching and writing texts for the June Post-War and Contemporary Day and Evening sales. It enabled me to meet our Paris-based team and gain a greater insight into the international nature of our business.
Image: Paul and a colleague recreating Robert Mapplethorpe’s ‘Ken Moody and Robert Sherman, 1984’
Natalie Brashear
The past few months have been filled with incredible new opportunities. I have had the privilege during my second rotation to work with both the Photography and Post-War and Contemporary teams. With Photographs, I was able to learn and revisit the ins and outs of photo cataloguing, a practice that first intrigued me during my time at Christie’s Education (CE) London. I also had the exciting responsibility of cataloguing an entire online sale of Stephen Shore photographs, an experience that allowed me to hone my cataloguing skills, engage with the online auction platform and learn about an incredible photographer from what are perhaps some of my favourite photographic movements, New Color Photography and New Topographics. With Post-War, I had the opportunity to assist with research and writing for the incredible Morning sale, a collection of properties so beautiful and intellectually engaging that they seem like a curated exhibition. The chance to research, write catalogue notes, and personally handle incredible works of art has reminded me why I got a degree in Modern and Contemporary art and has allowed me to build upon this knowledge, explore new artists and utilize the skills I gained while at CE.
Hin Hin
During my time with the Asian Contemporary Art department (ACA), I helped prepare their smaller sale, First Open, along with their big sale in May. Working in the ACA department changed my perspective on the Asian Contemporary art, surprisingly (for me), I started to appreciate this type of art. I prepared the artist biographies for the First Open and learnt about multiple artists and their artistic styles while flipping through books as part of the literature and exhibition research. The specialists were all very friendly and answered many of my curious questions about the art market. I also assisted with the private sale exhibition of Hong Kong artist Michael Lau, although his works look ‘cute’ there are many adult philosophical concepts infused in his artwork just like that of Yoshitomo Nara. After working in this department, I have finally started to understand the qualities that make Contemporary art attractive and interesting, thank you ACA.
Image: Hin Hin with Michael Lau and ‘Salvator Michael’ figure (inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi)
