Patti Wong, who at the end of 2022 departed Sotheby’s as international chair, is launching her own art advisory firm with an eye to the superheated Asian market. Wong is credited with expanding Sotheby’s business in Asia during her nearly three decades with the auction giant, notably bringing its Hong Kong market from a fractional concern to a $1 billion business on a par with New York and London. Her venture, Patti Wong & Associates, will partner with London-based Fine Art Group, led by Philip Hoffman to offer “enhanced advisory services on an international scale,” according to a press release. The two firms will operate independently, collaborating as necessary.
Joining Wong in her new endeavor are Daryl Wickstrom, who left Sotheby’s in 2016 as head of luxury sales, and Lisa Chow, a former senior staffer at the auction house, who will serve as managing director. The firm will assist collectors of all stripes, ranging from novice to seasoned, and, providing transactional expertise, collection management services, and market intelligence, as well as support in developing institutional relationships.
“Clients across Asia have built collections of outstanding quality and breadth, and now they require the sophisticated advisory services that have been prevalent in the United States and Europe for a number of years,” noted Wong in a statement. “At the same time, a new generation of collectors are entering the market at a very high level and [are] looking for guidance as they explore international art centers.”
Wong is the latest in a wave of execs to depart Sotheby’s and set up their own art advisory concerns in the wake of the auction house’s 2019 purchase by telecom mogul Patrick Drahi. Ex-Sotheby’s rainmakers Amy Cappellazzo, Yuki Terase, and Adam Chinn established Art Intelligence Global in 2021; the previous year, Allan Schwartzman, chief of the auction house’s fine arts business, departed to set up Schwartzman&.