HONG KONG.- Bonhams announces the appointments of Edward Wilkinson as Executive Director, Asia and Ingrid Dudek as Head of Modern & Contemporary Art, Asia.

Edward Wilkinson, currently Bonhams’ director of South Asian, Indian and Himalayan Art based in the United States, will take up his new post on June 1 and will work from Bonhams Hong Kong headquarters at One Pacific Place, Queensway, Admiralty.

Ingrid Dudek’s appointment as Head of Modern and Contemporary Art, Asia, takes place with immediate effect.

Edward Wilkinson
Edward Wilkinson established Bonhams’ Indian and Himalayan Southeast Asian Art Department in 2011. Under his leadership, the department has grown to become a market leader establishing world records across the field, including the Mon-Dvaravati Eilenberg Buddha; A Tibetan Thirty-Two-Deity Guhyasamaja Mandala, and for the modernist Indian artist, V.S. Gaitonde, whose untitled work of 1963 sold for $1,685,000.

Australian by birth, Wilkinson has worked in the auction business in Sydney, London, and the United States for the past 30 years and has detailed knowledge of the art markets in Asia and beyond. Recognized as one of the world’s leading specialists in Himalayan and Indian art, he ran an independent art advisory business for eight years and previously headed the Indian and Southeast Asian department for Sotheby’s, establishing a strong reputation with private collectors and institutions globally. In addition to his role as Executive Director, Wilkinson will continue in his capacity as Head of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art.

Matthew Girling, Bonhams Global CEO, said, “Edward’s track record in Asian art speaks for itself and I am confident he is the right person to take Bonhams Hong Kong onto the next phase in its development.”

Edward Wilkinson said, “I am delighted to be playing a part in building Bonhams’ presence in Hong Kong and across the rest of South Asia.”

Ingrid Dudek
Ingrid Dudek joined Bonhams this year and has been working closely with the Modern and Contemporary Art team in Asia. Her remit as Director of Contemporary Art, Asia, and Head of Department is to build the consignment and buyer base in the West for the Hong Kong sales of Modern & Contemporary Art, as well as to develop a strategy for contemporary art to be sold in Asia.

Dudek’s previous role was at Christie's where she was Vice President and International Senior Specialist in Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art from 2006-2015. There Dudek was instrumental in creating a strategic, global-minded platform for the then-emerging Asian market. Dudek has strong connections within the contemporary Asian art community that have been built during a career which has taken her from the International Center of Photography (ICP) to the management of a private Chinese art collection in New York.

Ms. Dudek holds a BA in Art History from the University of California at Berkeley and an MA in Anthropology from New York University. She spent several years in Beijing as both a Fulbright fellow and as manager of the CourtYard Gallery, the renowned contemporary Chinese art gallery.

Ingrid Dudek comments: “Bonhams has a 223-year heritage as an auction house, and we will combine this history and experience with fresh skills. Our specialists in Asia will ensure that the company’s trademark values of connoisseurship, unparalleled customer service, giving an evening sale treatment to every lot, and sales presented in a state-of-the-art saleroom will continue. Bonhams has the capacity to remain nimble and to bring leadership and vision to a changing market. We will continue to work hard to incorporate our auctions in Hong Kong into a fully international strategy for contemporary art.”