LONDON.-Sotheby’s has announced that Lisa Dennison, the Director of the Guggenheim Museum, will be joining the Company in September as an Executive Vice President of Sotheby's North America. She will be a member of Sotheby’s international team of senior executives responsible for international business development and client relationships.

“Lisa is an internationally recognized figure in the fields of Modern and Contemporary Art,” said Bill Ruprecht, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sotheby’s. “She comes to Sotheby’s following a distinguished 29-year career at the Guggenheim, one of the premier art institutions in the world. There, as Deputy Director and Chief Curator and more recently as Director of the New York museum, she has organized a number of memorable exhibitions of Modern and Contemporary Art as well as exhibitions based on the museum's renowned permanent collection.

“Over the years Lisa has developed outstanding relationships with important collectors, artists and art experts around the world. She also has developed strong relationships at Sotheby's and when Tobias Meyer suggested that we approach her, I thought it was a terrific idea. She is hugely capable and smart and I know she will make a significant contribution to our focus on key clients around the world and be a great addition to our global team of expert and business development colleagues. I expect that she will even further enhance the relationship that we have with the Guggenheim, which is one that we value enormously.”

“When Sotheby’s approached me, I realized that the opportunity to join a global public company is unique and appealing at this point in my career,” said Ms. Dennison. “Sotheby’s is a dynamic and innovative organization that is making strategic changes to respond to evolving new markets, and I look forward to using the skills I have developed to participate in their change and growth.” Ms. Dennison continued: “The Guggenheim has played a central role in my life for a very long time and I am honored to have been part of this great institution. It has been a special pleasure and privilege to work with Tom Krens as he transformed the institution over the past 19 years. I have learned so much from him and from our exceptionally talented staff as we have worked together to strengthen and enhance the visibility and reputation of the Guggenheim Museum as a great cultural resource in New York.”

In commenting on Ms. Dennison’s appointment, Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Director of Contemporary Art, said: “Lisa’s knowledge about 20th Century paintings and sculpture and recent Contemporary Art, and her relationships with the collectors in those fields, will be of enormous importance to us. I have admired Lisa for a long time and had always hoped that she would join us. I am absolutely thrilled at her decision to come to Sotheby’s.”

Ms. Dennison became Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in October 2005, a culmination of a career that began in 1978 when she joined the Museum as a curatorial assistant. She has organized numerous exhibitions of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim, including emerging artists’ shows in the eighties; retrospectives of Ross Bleckner and Francesco Clemente; shows based on the permanent collection at the Guggenheim and in international venues; and artist commission projects for the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin on artists including Jeff Koons, Rachel Whiteread, James Rosenquist, and Lawrence Weiner. In her responsibility as Chief Curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Ms. Dennison has been responsible for overseeing the exhibition program and collection development activities for the Guggenheim Museums worldwide, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice; the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin; and the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, Las Vegas.