This week we speak with Elaine Kwok of Christie's on her journey of becoming an auctioneer and the inaugural ONE auction, an unprecedented global live auction across 4 cities around the world.
As Director, Chairman’s Office and Auctioneer, Elaine Kwok is responsible for business development and top client relationships in Asia. Before joining the Chairman’s Office, Kwok ran Christie’s Education in Asia, a program she started in 2010 to inspire collectors and enthusiasts to engage with the art world.
Kwok is a key auctioneer for the region, and in 2018, sold Wood and Rock by Su Shi for US$60 million, the most expensive work of art that Christie’s has ever sold in Asia. Kwok became the first Christie’s auctioneer to pass the China auctioneer license exam in 2015.
Kwok serves on the Museum Advisory Committee of Leisure and Cultural Services Department in Hong Kong, and has been honoured as 40 Under 40 Asia Pacific by Apollo Magazine in 2016.
Before joining the auction industry, Kwok worked at Goldman Sachs and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A Hong Kong native, she holds a BA from Harvard University, an MA from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and an MBA from Stanford University.