An auction at Christie's. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

On Wednesday, January 7, 2015, Christie’s announced that Ambra Medda will be the new Global Creative Director of the auction house’s 20/21 Design Department. Based in London, the department is dedicated to furniture, lighting, ceramics, and sculpture from the Art Nouveau, Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, Modernist, and Contemporary movements. The auction house holds 20/21 Design sales twice annually in New York (June and December), Paris (May and November), and London (April and October).

Medda, an accomplished curator, co-founded Design Miami alongside developer Craig Robbins in 2005 and served as the fair’s director for five years. With annual shows in Basel, Switzerland, and Miami, Design Miami has emerged as one of the world’s leading celebrations of design culture and commerce. In 2013, after leaving Design Miami, Medda went on to launch L'ArcoBaleno, an online marketplace devoted to collectable design. As an independent curator, Medda has organized exhibitions with the contemporary art collective Stareleene, and co-curated a group exhibition for New York’s Lower East Side Girl’s Club, with works by Louise Bourgeois, Kiki Smith, and Swoon. According to a release from Christie’s, “Ambra brings this extensive experience and her strong partnerships with the world’s most respected cultural organizations, educational institutions, brands, and designers to her new role at Christie’s.”

Medda’s appointment was announced just over a month after Christie’s revealed that Steven Murphy would step down as the auction house’s Chief Executive Officer. Murphy, who served as CEO for four years, was succeeded by Patricia Barbizet, the Executive Director of Artémis Group, the investment company founded by French billionaire François Pinault, who also owns Christie’s. Barbizet is the auction house’s first female chief executive.

Sotheby’s, which saw a flurry of management changes last year as well, also named a new design head recently. Joshua Holdeman, who joined the auction house as its Senior Vice President and Vice Chairman of the Americas in 2014, will lead Sotheby’s department of 20th century design, photographs, and prints. Holdeman founded Phillips’ Photographs Department in 2001 and then spent ten years at Christie’s, first as the International Head of Photographs and 20th Century Design, then as the International Director of its Post-War and Contemporary Department, before eventually moving to the Chairman’s Office. Holdeman’s appointment comes after William Ruprecht, the CEO of Sotheby’s, announced his resignation in December 2014 after fourteen years with the auction house.