Eric Shiner leaving Warhol Museum to Join Sotheby’s
Eric Shiner at the Andy Warhol Museum. (PRNewsFoto/XOJET)
NEW YORK – Sotheby’s today announced that Eric Shiner, director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will join Sotheby’s this September. Based in New York, Shiner will enter Sotheby’s Fine Art Division as a senior vice President focused on private sales of 20th- and 21st-century art.
Shiner’s new role follows eight years at the Andy Warhol Museum. During his tenure there, Shiner oversaw notable successes for the institution including: played a lead role in bringing together “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal,” the largest traveling exhibition of Andy Warhol artwork in Asia; oversaw the museum’s current show, “Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei,” developed in conjunction with the National Gallery of Victoria and with participation from the artist himself; and filled an important gap in the museum’s collection with the acquisition of Do It Yourself (Sailboats) from 1962. Eric’s successes in Asia are closely tied to his background in Asian art and Japanese Contemporary art in particular, having attended graduate school in Osaka and maintaining strong relationships across the continent.
Amy Cappellazzo, chairman of Sotheby’s Fine Art Division, commented: “As demonstrated throughout his time as museum curator and director, Eric has an entrepreneurial spirit that is well-suited for a dynamic art business. As a respected scholar, his unique background at the nexus of Asian and contemporary art will lend itself well to his new position, in which he will work closely with collectors and focus on private sales of 20th- and 21st-century art.”
Shiner became director of the Andy Warhol Museum in 2011. Prior to that, he was the interim director, as well as curator of art. At the museum, Shiner organized “Factory Direct: Pittsburgh,” an exhibition that showcased the artwork of 14 established contemporary artists invited to conduct artist residencies in Pittsburgh-based factories. In addition, Shiner led the Warhol team in creating the first retrospective of appropriation artist Deborah Kass, “Before and Happily Ever After.” In 2013 Shiner curated for “The Armory Show Armory Focus: USA,” which presented a broad snapshot of the country’s contemporary cultural practice.
Shiner is a scholar of contemporary Japanese art and a leading authority on Warhol. He received a bachelor of philosophy in the history of art and architecture and Japanese language and literature from the University of Pittsburgh Honors College in 1994, a master of arts degree in the history of art from Osaka University in 2001, and a master of arts degree in the history of art from Yale in 2003.
