Half of the executive leadership team at Phillips is no longer with the auction house, and several other high-ranking employees have departed the company since the May sales.
The two most senior departures are Miety Heiden, chairman of private sales, and Jonathan Crockett, chairman for Asia. Both will officially leave their roles next month. (Crockett’s departure was first reported in Art Asia Pacific and the Baer Faxt newsletter earlier today.)
Until now, the house’s four-person executive leadership team consisted of Heiden; Crockett; Robert Manley, chairman and worldwide head of modern and contemporary art; and Marianne Hoet, head of business development and chairman of Europe. This quartet all reported to chief executive Martin Wilson, who got the top role after Ed Dolman stepped down in 2024 to start his own consultancy firm. (In December 2024, deputy CEO Amanda Lo Iacono also stepped down from her role.)
Wilson, who came to Phillips in 2019 as chief legal officer after 20 years at Christie’s; Manley, who joined the house in 2016 as deputy chairman and senior international specialist of 20th-century and contemporary art; and Hoet, who joined in 2017 as chairman of Europe, all remain at the company.
This summer has also seen the departures of several other high-level employees: deputy chairman and senior international specialist Scott Nussbaum, who left in June, and deputy chairman and head of business development Vivian Pfeiffer, who left in August, according to their respective LinkedIn profiles. Meiling Lee, a Taiwan-based senior international specialist for 20th-century and contemporary art since 2017, submitted her resignation this past week.
All of these departures came after Phillips hosted its marquee May sales in New York, which totaled $145.6 million, an increase year over year of 90 percent by lot. Its modern and contemporary evening sale alone made $115.2 million, achieving a rare white-glove result, in which all lots on offer find buyers. The departures come on the verge of the upcoming fall sales, which will kick off in London in October as part of Frieze Week.
“I’m concerned,” art adviser Gabriella Palmieri said of the departures. “I’ve had a strong relationship with Phillips and that relationship was with the people there. How can you secure confidence from your clients if you can’t secure confidence from your team?”
“Phillips’ priority firmly remains on delivering uninterrupted performance for our clients and building on the strong momentum we’ve achieved across the business,” a Phillips spokesperson told ARTnews in an email. “We are continuing to see new talent come through the organization and there is an increased focus on the next generation and rising talent. We remain committed to continual investment in our people and capabilities, ensuring we have the expertise and resources to serve our clients at the highest level.”
Phillips’ most recent hire is Annie Wallington, who joined as senior specialist and head of modern art in London in July. Other changes at the house, all of which occurred this past April, include India Phillips, hired to be managing director for modern and contemporary art in Europe; Rebekah Bowling, promoted to senior specialist and head of 21st-century art; Cherry Lam, elevated to general manager of Asia; and Kristen Yraola, who joined as global head of digital marketing after two years at Joopiter.
A prominent New York–based art adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, sees the departures less as an exodus than as Phillips trying to run a leaner business. Some of the people leaving, the adviser said, are senior enough that they no longer necessarily need an auction house behind them.
“I see two classes of people: those who can go out and make the same living or better on their own, and those who maybe aren’t super value-added but came in on pretty high salaries,” the adviser said. “I see it as efficiency.” The adviser put Heiden and Nussbaum firmly in the first camp: experienced art-market figures with the contacts to strike out on their own. “They were probably trying to trim the cost basis of the business,” the adviser said, while stressing that people like Heiden had plenty of options outside the auction house.
Another person with an intimate knowledge of the Philips’ operation also cautioned against reading all of the departures as part of a single event. Several involved senior employees whose lives had increasingly taken them outside New York, the person said, including people who had moved to Canada, Florida, and London. Others had simply reached points in long careers where they were ready to do something different. But, the source said a change at the top can inevitably lead to some turnover. “Anytime you have a new CEO, there are some relationships that just don’t gel,” the person said, adding that changes in personnel under new leadership were not particularly surprising.
Behind the Departing Rainmakers
Heiden joined Phillips as deputy chairman and head of private sales in 2017 after 18 years at Sotheby’s. She was promoted to chairman of private sales, alongside Manley’s elevation to chairman of modern and contemporary art, in May 2025 after the exits of Cheyenne Westphal, who had served as global chairwoman for eight years, and Jean-Paul Engelen, who had put in 10 years as president of the Americas and co-head of modern and contemporary art. At the time of her elevation, Phillips said that its annual private sales had grown by 46 percent under Heiden’s leadership.
“During her tenure, [Heiden] has played an important role in Phillips’ growth and success, helping to shape and expand our Private Sales division through her vision, dedication, and leadership,” the Phillips spokesperson said. “We are deeply grateful for her hard work and many contributions. She leaves behind a talented and highly capable team that is well positioned to continue building on this strong foundation. Everyone at Phillips extends their sincere thanks to Miety and wishes her every success in the future.”
Crockett joined Phillips in 2016 as head of 20th-century and contemporary art and deputy chairman of Asia, with Lee, who had previously run Taiwanese collector Pierre Chen’s Yageo Foundation, coming the following year. Their hirings were viewed at the time as an expansion to the Asian market for Phillips, which had only entered the Asian market with a Hong Kong outpost in 2015.
The Phillips spokesperson added, “Since joining Phillips in 2016, Jonathan Crockett has played an important role in establishing and growing the company’s presence across Asia and helping build a strong foundation for long-term growth. Phillips is very well positioned to continue serving its important and established community of clients across the region, with an experienced leadership team, deep specialist expertise and the strength of our global network. We thank Jonathan for his contribution and look forward to exploring opportunities to collaborate in the future.”
In 2023, Phillips named Lee as the new head of its 20th-century and contemporary art department in Asia, moving her from Taiwan to Hong Kong. She took over from Crockett, who went on to focus on his Asia chairman role and “the region’s overall development with the house’s global management,” according to Artnet News. Lee has been credited as being instrumental in Phillips’ 2022 sale of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 16-foot-long painting, Untitled (1982) to billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for $85 million.
Pfeiffer, the deputy Chairman and head of Business Development, joined Phillips in 2017 after 24 years at Christie’s. Her LinkedIn also lists that she is now the founder and principal of VB Art Advisory. Nussbaum, another former deputy chairman, had been with the house’s 20th-century and contemporary art department since 2016.
Additional departures include chief financial officer Annette Schwaer, who had been with the company since 2013, and Jennifer Jones, senior vice president and senior director for trusts, estates, and valuations since 2016. Another recent departure from Phillips is Milan-based Carolina Lanfranchi, who left a year ago. Lanfranchi had been a specialist at Phillips since 2015 who became regional director in 2023 when Phillips opened a space in Milan.
