Nicolas Chow

Nicolas Chow is the chairman for Asia and the worldwide head and chairman of Asian Art at Sotheby’s. After studying archaeology and art history, he relentlessly approached the auction house for a job, and joined Sotheby’s in 1999.

Having been instrumental in leading the Chinese art market in Asia since 2003, he was appointed international head and chairman of the Chinese Works of Art Department in 2006, orchestrating numerous successful auctions across Sotheby’s major salerooms in Hong Kong, London, New York, and Paris.

Chow has kept Sotheby’s at the helm of the Chinese works of art market, and has been the mastermind behind many record-breaking sales, including a rare Ru Guanyao brush washer from the Northern Song Dynasty, which fetched HK$290 million, setting a world record for Chinese ceramics in October 2017; and the Meiyintang “Chicken Cup” which sold for HK$280 million in 2014, establishing a world record for Chinese porcelain. He has introduced numerous prominent collections to the market, such as Chinese Art through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō (2013 to 2016) and The Meiyintang Collection Parts I to V (2011 to 2013).

Chow has played a major role in setting up Sotheby’s new, 24,000 sq ft headquarters in Landmark Chater, which opened in July 2024, and hopes the new space will encourage the public to take a greater interest in the value of art, the importance of curations and the philosophy of collecting, whether or not they are in a position to invest.