Carly Murphy, Christie’s head of client strategy for the Americas, is leaving the auction house to join Art Basel as global head of collector and institutional relations, a newly created position. She will report to Vincenzo de Bellis, the fair’s chief artistic officer and global director of fairs, and begins later this month. The move comes as the art market faces slowing sales, with global art and antiques sales falling 12% in 2024 to $57.5 billion, according to the latest Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report.
The appointment underscores Art Basel’s effort to strengthen ties with core collectors, museums, and cultural institutions amid a challenging market. It also reflects broader shifts between auction houses, galleries, and fairs, with several high-profile executives moving between sectors recently, including Christie’s former CEO Guillaume Cerutti joining the Pinault family and Sotheby’s Brooke Lampley moving to Gagosian. The hire signals that fair organizers are prioritizing direct relationships with top collectors to sustain gallery growth and audience development as sales at fairs remain below pre-pandemic levels.