HANNAH O'LEARY

Could you tell me a little about yourself and your role at Sotheby’s?

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Sure! I’m Hannah O’Leary, and I’m the Head of Modern and Contemporary African Art at Sotheby’s. I joined in 2016, specifically to set up a dedicated department for African art. Before that, I was with Christie’s for about ten years, starting in 2006, primarily working with modern and contemporary art at auctions. My background is in the history of art and cultural anthropology. I didn’t start working specifically with African art until my time at Bonhams, where we pioneered some of the first international auctions in that category. As those sales grew, it naturally became my area of expertise.

 

And do you enjoy working there?

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I love it! Sotheby’s is such a unique place, the world’s largest and one of the oldest auction houses. It’s very exciting to work in such an international company with so much reach in the art world, but it’s also rewarding to be building something relatively new within it. When I joined, there were relatively few African or Black artists being represented. So, being able to provide a platform for those artists and develop the audience has been both exciting and fulfilling. It feels entrepreneurial but with the safety net of a major institution, which is a real blessing. And the response has been fantastic, so I really love what I do.

 

What does Blackness mean to you?

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That’s a tough question! I should start by clarifying that our department is very much focused on the African continent. We came into this market because African artists face very real geographical boundaries compared to their peers in North America and Europe. Our sales are focused on African artists—they don’t have to live on the continent, but they need to have been born there or worked there. This has led to some confusion, as people sometimes think it’s a “Black art” auction, but it’s not. Race and Blackness aren’t our main focus by any means; we don’t include Black artists in our auctions who don’t have a connection to the African continent. We do, however, sell Black art in our international categories across the company. While race isn’t central to what we do, it does play into it—most of the artists we sell are Black, and the majority of our clients are Black. And, yes, that’s been a barrier in the art world outside of Africa as well, so it’s something we are aware of.

 

Do you feel that setting up the department at Sotheby’s has affected the African and Caribbean diaspora in the UK, especially within the art scene?

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Absolutely. When Sotheby’s announced we were holding sales in this category, I noticed a big jump in international attention. Suddenly, with a blue-chip company entering the market, there was a sense that African art was worth investing in. Previously, my focus was on African collectors, but now there’s a very international and diverse response to the category.There was also a personal story that struck me: A Black British artist told me she was getting more attention labelling herself as “African” and being included in “African” exhibitions than she was as a Black British artist. That was eye-opening because I had always thought that being based in Africa limited opportunities compared to being in London with access to British institutions and museums. So, hearing that she felt the need to identify as African to gain access to the art market was remarkable.

 

Right, and I suppose different trends in the market affect how artists present themselves.

 

Exactly. Especially in contemporary art, it’s very trend-driven, and as an auction house, we’re constantly responding to market demand. For example, we’re actively promoting Black British art alongside other underrepresented areas, like female artists. But if you look at our international contemporary art sales, most Black artists represented are African-American rather than Black British. It’s a category that still hasn’t fully emerged market-wise.

 

Speaking of curation, how do you feel Blackness and the Black race are curated and represented in British exhibitions?

I think of some of the blockbuster shows that Ekua Holmes has curated, for example, as a notable example. Just a couple of months ago, we had his show at the National Portrait Gallery, Dot's show at the Royal Academy, and Lisa Anderson's show at the Dulwich Picture Gallery—all at the same time, which was super exciting. I don't think we’ve ever seen such a focus on Black art and artists in this city.What I find interesting, from my experience and expertise in African art, is that when it comes to African art, we went through a phase in the 90s and early 2000s where "Africa" as a theme was a common curatorial focus for shows. But just being African isn’t enough to bind these artists together. I feel like we’re still in that stage when it comes to Black British art as a cohesive theme. We had groundbreaking shows in the 80s and 90s, with artists like Lubaina, and some of the exhibitions from that period, such as The Thin Black Line at the Hayward Gallery, were foundational.Now, I think what we should be looking at needs to be a bit more nuanced. I'm still excited about major museums focusing on this category. With African-American and Black British art shows, race and identity come to the forefront much more than in African art, where Africa is such a broad concept. An artist from North Africa and one from South Africa don’t share a significant art historical context. Black British art, however, does have a more cohesive identity. But I believe there’s still more to explore in this category than what we’re seeing right now.

 

You’re not a curator, but do you use any curatorial approaches in your work at Sotheby’s?

 

I’d say yes and no. I wouldn’t call myself a curator out of respect for curators who approach it differently. What we do is with the market in mind. Our focus is on building meaningful, long-term collections and offering pieces we’d be proud to sell even 20 years from now. From a curatorial standpoint, we’re always looking for artists with a level of importance and museum recognition, aiming to mirror what institutions and curators are doing in terms of longevity and sustainability.

 

And are there ethical considerations you keep in mind?

 

Yes, that’s a great question. There are a few ways we address this. We have ethical guidelines within the company and a clear structure for handling any questions that arise about what we should be selling. If there's uncertainty, our internal ethics committee makes the decision, rather than leaving it to individual discretion, which is great to have in place.In my category, we work with our Black employee resource group—an international group of Black employees. We often consult them on how to present Black art, discuss race, and ensure we're speaking about it intelligently and correctly. This group has been invaluable since its creation in mid-2020.Additionally, as a team, we have a wealth of experience working with Black clients who help us understand when we've missed the mark. We’re very sensitive to those relationships and always aim to do right by our clients. They are our primary focus.As for the artists, they aren't typically our clients since we don’t consign directly from them. However, we try to maintain relationships with the artists whose work we sell to ensure we're presenting it correctly. We check for authenticity, verify there are no legal claims on the work, and ensure the details and titles are accurate before presenting anything in our catalog. Building strong relationships with the artists and their galleries is essential to us.

 

Have you encountered challenges when working with race, given that you’re a white person working primarily with African art?

 

 Of course. As I mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, discussing race is always difficult. I'm not an expert in the field, and I'm not Black, so I'm very aware that I may make mistakes when talking about Blackness or race issues. Personally, I believe it's better to have these conversations and be corrected if necessary than to avoid them altogether.I do get criticism for having this role as a white person. When I started in this field 20 years ago, there wasn't much of a market, and the value of the market was very low. It wasn't a career that many people were eager to get into. But I also recognize how lucky I've been to do this work, and I’m always trying to create space for others in the field. That's where I feel I can contribute.Diversity is an issue in the art world, and our entire company is aware of it. We're constantly striving to do better. From a personal standpoint, I definitely get called out, especially in the U.S., where race is such a political and public issue. My African clients have no problem with me not being Black because they know I understand the subject matter and trust that I’m working for them.That said, we all agree that we need to widen up the pipeline and ensure the right people are coming through in the field. While I'm very qualified for my role, I’m aware that in African art, most of the experts at the top are white. But as the market grows, we’re already seeing the pipeline change, which is really exciting.

 

How could curation around race improve in UK arts institutions?

 

I think some work is already being done to address this. The problem is that the world has only recently woken up to the fact that our institutions are not diverse and our international collections are not global. Much effort is being put into fixing this, but the issue is that we haven't been encouraging people to specialize in Black art until recently. Museums usually want curators with 10 or 20 years of experience, but very few jobs have been created for those people in recent years. So, we're playing catch-up.In 10 years, I don't think this will be an issue anymore because so many talented students at universities now want to work in this field, which makes me excited for the future. But right now, we need more expertise, mentorship, publications, and research. As the market grows and these artists gain more recognition, more investment will follow. However, we need to build an ecosystem around them—publishing monographs, creating Catalogues Raisonnés, collecting their work, and exhibiting it for the public to see.This will make the public more familiar with these names, integrating them into the canon alongside their non-Black peers. A lot of work still needs to be done, but we're starting. It’s not always perfectly executed, and I count myself among those still learning, but I’m optimistic about the future. We’re starting from a low bar, but things can only improve. Does that make sense?