The Art Buyers
Johnny Van Haeften joined Christie’s in 1969 at the age of 17. In 1977, he opened his first gallery in New Bond Street specialising in Old Master paintings and five years later opened his present gallery in Duke Street, St James’s, specialising in 16th and 17th Century Dutch and Flemish Old Masters. He is Vice Chairman of the Society of London Art Dealers and on the Executive Committee of the European Fine Art Foundation. He is unquestionably one of the leading dealers in Northern European Old Masters. With over 25 years’ experience, his knowledge of Old Masters is enormous.
Charles Beddington was educated at the Courtauld Institute of Art. In 1983 he joined Christie’s and in 1990 became Head of its Old Master Division. He became a director of the company in 1992. He spent 1995 in the USA studying the work of Canaletto and since 1998 has been regarded as the leading expert on the artist. Since April 1998 he has run his own business, Charles Beddington Ltd, acting as a dealer and agent in the sale of Old Master paintings.
James Roundell is a specialist in Impressionist and Modern Art. He was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he studied History of Art. He joined Christie’s in 1973 and became Head of the Impressionist and Modern Department for Christie’s Europe. In 1995, he established his own company specialising in private sales of modern pictures and sculpture. He is a director of Simon C. Dickinson Ltd, one of the leading dealers worldwide, based in London and New York.
Ivor Braka is a leading global contemporary and modern dealer. He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he read English. He then studied History of Art at Sotheby’s. In 1978 he joined the Crane Kalman Gallery in London where he specialised in 20th Century art. Ivor Braka has since become an independent art dealer, specialising in paintings, drawings and sculpture by Impressionist and Modern European artists as well as Contemporary artists since 1940. Today he advises some of the most important collectors worldwide.
Thomas Dane is a specialist in works by the most contemporary artists. He was educated at St Andrews University and University College, London. He established his own business as an independent art dealer in 1988, which has developed into secondary market dealing and the advising of high profile collections ranging from America through to Greece. Thomas has a history of supporting many contemporary art projects and currently represents the Turner Prize-winning video artist, Steve McQueen.
Anthony Lin was, until January 2005, Chairman of Christie’s Asia as well as Chairman of Christie’s Hong Kong and Taiwan. At Christie’s he was also the first auctioneer of Chinese descent. Mr. Lin joined the international auction house in 1986 as a specialist in the Chinese Works of Art Department and became Managing Director of Christie’s Hong Kong in 1993. Under his stewardship from 1993 and 2005, auction sales in Hong Kong grew from HK$225 million (US$29 million) in 1993 to HK$1.4 billion(US$181 million) in 2004. Mr. Lin recently established Anthony Lin Fine Art Limited, an international art dealing and advisory business.
Born in Singapore of Chinese migrant parents, Mr. Lin graduated from University College London with an Honour’s Degree in Philosophy and Economics, and earned a Master’s Degree in Chinese Art and Archaeology with Distinction at the Percival David Foundation of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He specializes in Chinese ceramics of the Song to Qing periods and early Buddhist sculpture.
Robin Dean completed undergraduate studies in comparative religion at Cambridge University and postgraduate studies in Indian and Southeast Asian Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
He worked at Christie’s and lived in India for 2 years working as the representative for Christie’s India and then worked for Sotheby’s as the International Head of the Indian and Southeast Asian Art Department. He remains a consultant for Sotheby’s in the Indian and Southeast Asian Art Department and currently runs his own company Rob Dean Art Ltd that specialises in modern and contemporary South Asian Art. He has been at the forefront of modern contemporary Indian Art Auctions for the past ten years.
Isabella Icoz is of Greek origin, born in London, raised in Switzerland and currently living in Istanbul. Isabella received a BA with Honors at Brown University, an MA at The George Washington University and a Post-Graduate Diploma with Merit in East Asian Art at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Isabella previously worked at Christies in their London Business Development and Client Advisory departments. For the past two years Isabella works as an Independent Art Consultant based in Istanbul, advising clients (including some of ARTnews 200 Top Collectors) on Modern and Contemporary art. Isabella also works as an Adviser to Sotheby's for Turkish art.
Saleh Barakat, (b.1967), is a leading expert in contemporary Arab art and founder of the Agial Art Gallery in Beirut, 1991. as the executive manager of the gallery, he has participated in bulding some major collections of modern and contemporary Arab art. Possessing a strong business background in addition to his experience in the arts, Barakat has been engaged in developing a healthy market environment for creative expression in the Arab world. He curated several pan-Arab exhibitions, including the IXth Francophone Summit in Beirut and the 2003 World Bank Summit in Dubai, and recently he co-curated the first national pavilion for Lebanon at the 52nd Venice Biennale in addition to Mediterranean Crossroads, in collaboratio with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He serves on the steering committee of the Arts Center at the American University in Beirut. He was nominated as a Yale World Fellow in 2006.








