Estates, Appraisals & Valuations

Paul R. Provost, Deputy Chairman and Senior Director of Estates, Appraisals & Valuations, joined Christie’s in 1995. In his current role Dr. Provost oversees business development with professional advisers in the legal, banking and financial communities. In addition, he assists clients with gaining access to Christie's extensive financial and appraisal services.

Dr. Provost has also served as International Business Director for Christie’s Americas, a position in which he formulated and directed long-term business plans for several Christie’s departments including American Paintings, American Furniture & Decorative Arts, Latin American Paintings, 20th Century Decorative Arts and Native American Art. Prior to that, he served as Director of Christie’s American Paintings and Sculpture Department and is a Senior Director for that department.

Prior to joining Christie’s, Dr. Provost served as a curator at the New-York Historical Society. He holds a doctorate in American paintings and drawings from Princeton University and a master’s degree in art history from Williams College and the Clark Institute, where he was named Robert Sterling Clark Fellow. Dr. Provost is a member of the Council of Fellows for the Association of Fellows at the Pierpont Morgan Library. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Historic House Trust of New York City and is a trustee of The Preservation League of New York State.

Tash Perrin was appointed to Head of Estates, Appraisals & Valuations in May 2011. In this role, Ms. Perrin manages teams based in New York and Los Angeles, and is responsible for overseeing business development with professional advisers in the legal, banking and financial communities as well as assisting clients with gaining access to Christie's extensive financial and appraisal services. Ms. Perrin is also responsible for ensuring optimal presence for Christie's at leading trusts and estates/family office conferences across the United States. Prior to her 2011 appointment, Ms. Perrin was Senior Vice President, Business Director for the department.

In May 2007, Ms. Perrin re-joined Christie's New York from London, when she was Head of Client Advisory. In this role Ms. Perrin led the department through major sales in London and also became instrumental in the organization of the first sales of Christie's in Dubai. She initially moved to London to become European Business Manager for the Old Master Pictures & Drawings and Book departments. Prior to moving to London, Ms. Perrin was active in several departments at Christie's New York including Impressionist, 19th and 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Wine and the Old Masters Paintings department where she started her career in 1996.

Ms. Perrin qualified as an auctioneer in 1999 and has regularly taken sales for Christie's New York, Los Angeles, and London. Ms. Perrin is also a highly sought after charity auctioneer, having conducted over sixty high profile charity auctions across the world, including the Keep a Child Alive's Black Ball auction in 2008 and 2009. As a charity auctioneer, Ms. Perrin has raised millions of dollars for a range of causes.

Ms. Perrin holds a BA Hon degree in Art History from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.

Lea K. Green was appointed Vice President, Business Development Director in September 2011. In this role, she represents Christie's at trusts and estates/family office conferences across the United States. Prior to joining the Company Ms. Green was Director of Special Projects and Associate Counsel for The Studio Museum in Harlem, where she oversaw development, strategic planning, board and external affairs initiatives. Additionally, Ms. Green was Associate Art Advisor and Estate Planning Manager for The Citigroup Private Bank Art Advisory Service.

In 2005, Ms. Green was awarded the Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Fellowship for Public Policy and the Arts at The Alliance for the Arts. Ms. Green holds a B.A. in Political Science from Spelman College, M.A. in Visual Arts Administration from New York University and J.D. from University of Connecticut School of Law. She is admitted to the New York State Bar.

Rita Boyle joined Christie's in January of 2008. Ms. Boyle works from the Beverly Hills office and oversees business development with professional advisors in the Southern California area. Ms. Boyle assists these advisors in the legal, banking and financial communities through the disposition of art collections at auction as well as supervising the process of obtaining estate tax, gift tax, or insurance appraisals from Christie's to satisfy the fiduciary needs of trusts and estates.

Ms. Boyle has been instrumental in securing consignment of numerous important estates in Southern California most notably The Estate of Max Palevsky bringing $58 million at auction.

Prior to joining Christie's, Ms. Boyle worked in the auction field for 20 years in the role of an Asian Art specialist and in the field of Trusts and Estates. Ms. Boyle earned a BA degree in East Asian Studies form Duke University and studied Chinese History at the University of Nanjing in the People's Republic of China.

Mark Wrey began his career at Christie’s King Street in 1974 where he worked for 18 years in the Press, PR and Marketing departments, becoming Marketing Director in 1986. Highlights among his many exciting projects at this time were the amazing £10m Nanking Cargo Shipwreck Sale and the sale of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, which was a landmark sale; this was the first picture to sell for more than £10m when it sold for £22.5m in 1987.

Mark then took responsibility in 1992 for Christie’s interests in the South of England. This involved looking after clients’ needs, providing valuations and selections for sale. The culmination of this period were the sales which he orchestrated from Cowdray Park, involving all specialist art departments as well as advice from the Valuations and Heritage & Taxation departments. This extensive project culminated in some exceptional sales.

Mark has been a Senior Director in the UK Chairman’s Office and has recently taken on a new role as Director of the UK Estates, Appraisals and Valuations department. He travels extensively throughout the UK and greatly enjoys the vast variety of objects, collections and clients that he encounters every week.

Grégoire Debuire began his career in 1997 at Maître Rouillac, in Vendôme, and obtained his auctioneer's diploma the same year. During his career he has worked at Maître Loizillon, Maître Rémi Ader and at the auction house Mercier, in Lille, before joining Pierre Bergé and associates in Brussels.

Grégoire has always had a passion for art history and the art market, and holds a Master's degree in art history and public law regarding the preservation of historic buildings. He has published numerous articles on French architectural heritage, and in 2000 a book about small castles and manor houses in Pas-de-Calais.

Since 2006, he has managed the Valuations department at Pierre Bergé and associates in Brussels, while actively participating in the Paintings, Furniture and Works of Art and Asian Arts departments and organising a sale of Vintage, Modern and Contemporary photography.

Among the most striking items Grégoire has sold at auction are a rediscovered Marguerite Gérard painting, from the famous collection of cardinal Fesch, which sold for €241,500 in 2005, a rare statue N' Gombe, Congo, which was collected in 1906 and then rediscovered in a family collection in 2008 selling for €369,000, and a new study for Jacques Louis David's famous and historic picture 'Le serment du jeu de paume' which had previously belonged to the Baron Vivant-Denon. The owner was not aware of the artist and the historic importance of this work which sold for €193,050 in 2007.

Grégoire has always known how to share his passion for the arts and presented the French television programme 'Côté Maison' which shared extraordinary or curious objects with its viewers. Some of the great moments of the show were then reunited in his work 'Côté Collections' which showed 347 of the most unusual objects. In addition to this, he led a radio show on the art market on RTL.

Clarice Pecori-Giraldi began her Christie's career in 1992 in Italy as a specialist in the department of Modern and Contemporary Art. In a short period of time she became Head of the Department, and then took on the role of General Manager of Christie's Milan office until 1998.

Having spent a significant number of years working as the Head of communication and marketing for some of the most renowned Italian luxury brands, Clarice Pecori-Giraldi came back as the Managing Director of Christie's Italia in July 2006.

Under her guidance, a process of re-positioning and development of the company started, and the offices moved to the centre of Milan with the saleroom in the prestigious Palazzo Clerici.

James Alabaster was educated at Clifton and served in the Welsh Guards. He joined Christie's in 1973 and the Old Master Picture Department the following year.

In 1976 he entered the Valuations Department. He became a Director of the Company and for more than three decades has been involved in preparing some of the most important valuations and appraisals Worldwide. James Alabaster regularly works on comprehensive and detailed valuations and appraisals of the contents of major historic and princely properties throughout Great Britain, Europe, Middle-East and the USA.

Among many discoveries, during a routine valuation and appraisal in the south of England, James Alabaster was the first to recognise and re-discover the true authorship of a painting, previously thought to be a copy, entitled 'La Suprise' by the celebrated French artist Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684 -1721) which had been missing for nearly 200 years. It subsequently sold at Christie's King Street, London on 8th July 2008 for £12,361,250 with premium.

Other discoveries by James Alabaster and subsequently sold at Christie's include important works by Canaletto, Johann Liss, J.M.W. Turner, Maurice Quentin De La Tour, Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, Carlo Maratti, Federico Barocci, Sebastiano Ricci and Sir Anthony Van Dyck.