Giovanna Bertazzoni
Co-Chairman
A senior specialist since June 2006, Giovanna Bertazzoni became Department Head in October 2008 and was promoted to International Specialist Head of Impressionist and Modern Art in January 2012. Under her leadership, the Impressionist and Modern Art Department in London achieved the then highest sales week total for the category in London 2012, with the February sales realising £179,085,337. The auctions were led by Henry Moore’s masterpiece Reclining Figure: Festival, 1951, which sold for £19.1 million, setting a world record price for the artist, and a record price for any British sculpture; two records which still stand.
Many records and outstanding prices are constantly achieved for masterpieces sold in Impressionist and Modern Art sales, in New York and London, gathered by the team Giovanna has led as International Head of Department (2012-2015). During her tenure in this role the London Impressionist, Modern and Surreal Evening sales in February 2014 achieved the highest total for any single art auction held in London at that time, totaling £176.9 million. Giovanna also oversaw the Department's global expansion in Asia and India, and was instrumental in selling the first Picasso ever offered in Mainland China, during Christie's inaugural sale in Shanghai in September 2013. She was responsible for the development of the Department’s strategy on-line, with a series of groundbreaking auctions held throughout 2014 and 2015. In June 2015 Giovanna was made Deputy Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art Department, having been involved in the landmark sale ‘Looking Forward to the Past’ at Christie’s in New York, in May, which saw Les femmes d'Alger (Version 'O'), 1955, by Pablo Picasso set the World Auction Record for Any Work of Art, when it sold for $179,365,000.
Giovanna started her career in the department in 1998, soon heading its London 'Impressionist and Modern Works on Paper' biannual sale, which she led between 2001 and 2006. She has forged and continues to cultivate strong relationships with a global network of major private collectors, particularly with collectors of works on paper, and graphic arts departments of major European and American museums. Fluent in English, Italian and French, Giovanna holds a master's degree in Museum Studies from the École Nationale du Patrimoine in Paris. Prior to joining Christie's, she worked for the Cabinet des Dessins of the Musée du Louvre and the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts in San Francisco. In recognition of her expertise and experience in the institutional world, in 2012 Giovanna was invited by the Italian Ministry of Culture to join the Board of Trustees of the Museum Poldi Pezzoli in Milan. She was a Trustee of the Museum for three years (2012-2015) – a position she thoroughly enjoyed, finding it extremely complementary to her professional endeavours at Christie’s.