Sotheby’s has opened an office in India’s commercial capital Mumbai and made two strategic appointments to boost its business in the country. 

Edward Gibbs has been appointed Chairman of Sotheby’s India, Middle East and North Africa while Priyanka Mathew has been appointed Regional Director, Sotheby’s India. 

By opening an office in India, the company will be able to increase the scale and scope of its activities in the country and support a full calendar of events, lectures, exhibitions, and charity sales.  

For the last five years Priyanka has been Sotheby’s International Senior Specialist, Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, based in New York, US. During this time, while focusing on the collecting category of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, she has worked with Indians who collect across the range categories Sotheby’s sells. 

Speaking of her new role, Mathew says: “The art scene in India has never been more vibrant. There are new galleries, museums and initiatives emerging all the time that are engaging more people than ever before. The crowds at our events earlier this year showed that there is a real hunger for the sort of international outlook that Sotheby’s offers, so we are thrilled to be expanding our operations here to become a bigger part of this mix. In this new role I will use my experience both at Sotheby’s and in my previous career on Wall Street to increase the visibility of the Sotheby’s brand, drive more business with our existing clients and engage with a new audience of private and corporate collectors.”

Sotheby’s has been active in India for almost three decades working with leading collectors in the country and staging regular events in New Delhi and Mumbai. It was the first international auction house to hold an auction in India, when in October 1992, it mounted a sale of Indian, European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art in New Delhi. Today, the value of purchases by Indian clients has grown on average by 42 per cent per year over the past five years at Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s International Chairman Robin Woodhead says: “In recent years, collectors and buyers based in India have become increasingly active in Sotheby’s international auctions across a broad spectrum of collecting categories - from Contemporary and Impressionist Art to Jewellery and Old Masters. Our decision to open an office in Mumbai and appoint Edward Gibbs and Priyanka Mathew to these key roles is testament to the importance of India to Sotheby’s global business. These initiatives will allow us to provide a more sophisticated level of service to our existing collectors and enable the company to further develop its client base and activities in the country.”  

The appointments and the India office launch opening comes ahead of Sotheby’s second annual India and Islamic Art Week taking place in London from October 2 to 7 under the direction of Edward Gibbs and Yamini Mehta. Following last year’s highly successful series, this year’s event includes the single-owner sale of The Sven Gahlin Collection of Indian Miniature paintings, Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, and Arts of the Islamic World.