NEW YORK—On Feburary 22, Phillips de Pury & Company announced the appointment of Jeremy Wingfield, current director of Beijing’s Courtyard Gallery, as the auction house's representative in China, in a bid to strengthen contacts with mainland buyers and locate consignments of Chinese contemporary art. According to Phillips’s contemporary art specialist Chin-Chin Yap, “Our presence in China is still very young but Jeremy’s appointment will be a big factor in helping to increase our profile there.”

The auction house has already received regular consignments from mainland collectors. Two significant works were included in its recent London sales: Untitled #3 (2003) by Liu Ye, sold for £144,500 (including premium) at the February 28 evening auction, and A Pair of Tigers (1991), by Zeng Fanzhi, brought £62,900 the next day. According to Yap, Phillips anticipates more consignments from China at the auction house's upcoming New York sales in May.   

Mainland collectors, who now regularly attend sales of contemporary Asian art at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in Hong Kong and at Sotheby’s New York, have also begun bidding at Phillips sales in New York and London. Most notably, Yang Bin, owner of an extensive chain of auto dealerships in China, was seen at  Phillip’s London in October 2007, where he bought Wang Guangyi’s Post-Classical Series: Madonna and Child (1977) for  £333,600.

Wingfield began his art career in 2004 as an assistant at Courtyard Gallery, when the venue, then run by Meg Maggio, was one of the top galleries in China. Wingfield was appointed director in 2006 when Maggio left to open Pekin Fine Arts. Courtyard is currently having its last show, paintings by Chinese-American artist David Diao, before closing its doors in April.