The appointment follows a number of staff moving in the other direction including Sotheby’s worldwide head of Contemporary art Cheyenne Westphal who is due to start her new role at Phillips next year. Blake Koh, Sotheby’s former senior vice president and senior specialist in Los Angeles has also joined Phillips as their representative for the US west coast.
Klosterfelde’s appointment to Sotheby’s however represents another addition of a member of staff with strong dealing connections. He spent 18 years running his own gallery in the German capital before joining Phillips in 2013.
Now based in London, Klosterfelde will become Sotheby’s senior director and senior specialist in their European Contemporary art team, working closely alongside Bastienne Leuthe who was appointed senior director and head of their Contemporary art department in Germany earlier this summer.
Sotheby’s head of Contemporary Art, Europe Alex Branczik said that Klosterfelde “brings with him a wealth of expertise, experience and international client relationships, especially in German-speaking Europe”.
Klosterfelde spent two years working with New York dealer Barbara Gladstone before founding his own gallery in Berlin in 1996. During his time as a dealer he was a regular exhibitor at art fairs including Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach (where he a member of the selection committee), FIAC and The Armory Show.
He was also a founding exhibitor at Frieze Art Fair when it launched in London in 2003.
