Old Masters

Jonquil O’Reilly graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2008 with a First-Class MA Honours degree in Italian. Following graduation, she began her career in the Old Master Paintings department of another international auction house where she worked for nine years, first in London and from 2011 in New York as a Specialist with a focus on Italian paintings. Jonquil has a particular passion for historical fashion, using clothing as a lens through which to study Old Master Paintings. She writes regularly on the subject, “decoding” garments like powdered wigs, padded hips, ruffs and even the infamous codpiece, in the hopes of bringing Old Master Paintings to a wider audience. Her articles have been published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Harper’s Bazaar UK and she has lectured on fashion in art at the Cleveland Museum, NYU, Chatsworth House, the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle and Parsons School of Design, amongst others.

Jennifer Wright was appointed head of Old Master Paintings, New York in June 2024. She has been at Christie’s for 18 years, ten as specialist and head of the Old Master Drawings department, and from 2016-2024 as a Client Relationship Director in the Client Advisory group of the Chairman’s Office. While in Old Master Drawings Jennifer participated in the 2009 sale of Raphael’s Head of a Muse, which sold for £29,000,000, at the time the world record price for a drawing at auction; and in 2013 oversaw the highest-earning various owners Old Master Drawings sale in Christie’s history. While in Client Advisory she managed and developed a portfolio of top-US clients across all collecting categories, and was the driver of several single-owner-sales that featured Old Masters including Property from the Estate of Eugene V. Thaw (2018); Rooms as Portraits: Michael S. Smith (2018, New York and London); Always in Style: Property from the Collection of Herbert Kasper (2021); and Modern Medici: Masterpieces from a New York Collection (2023 and 2024). Jennifer is an auctioneer, and is also co-head of Christie’s charity auctioneering program.

Jennifer earned her undergraduate degree in Art History at Georgetown University, a Master’s degree in Fine and Decorative Art from Sotheby’s Institute, and a Master of Arts degree from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. She is an emeritus member of the Georgetown College Board of Advisors, as well as the founder and inaugural chairwoman of the Director’s Council for the Georgetown University Art Galleries.

Andrew joined Christie’s in 2022 assuming overall responsibility for the international Old Masters department. Previously Andrew spent nearly 20 years at Sotheby’s, most recently as head of the Old Masters department, Europe, during which time he oversaw many of the department’s most successful auction sales. Andrew was the co-architect of the £150m pioneering sale ‘Rembrandt to Richter’ in 2020 during the pandemic, the first major evening sale to combine Old Masters with Impressionist, Contemporary and Modern British Art. He has been particularly focused on growing private sales in the field and has been instrumental in the development of the market for Old Masters in Asia. Andrew’s particular passion lies in the early Netherlandish and Italian schools.