NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams has appointed Michael C. Hughes to be Vice President, Head of Department, Chinese Ceramics & Works Art for the U.S. He takes up his new position on September 1 and will be based in Bonhams, New York. In addition, Bruce MacLaren has been promoted to Vice President, Senior Specialist, Chinese Paintings, US, and Chinese Works of Art.

MICHAEL C. HUGHES
Michael joins Bonhams from his own company Michael C. Hughes LLC, as a specialist in Chinese art based in New York City. He is the current President of the Board of ‘Asia Week New York’, as well as a Board Member of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, headquartered in Baltimore.

Prior to founding his company, Michael spent over 16 years as a Chinese specialist with Christie’s in London, New York and Los Angeles. He has appraised a wide range of Chinese art for many of the world’s finest private collections, institutions and museums which include: the Rockefeller Collection at Asia House; the St Louis Museum of Art; the Denver Museum; the Norton Museum and the Taft Museum.

Michael has written numerous articles on Chinese art for publications such as Apollo, Arts of Asia, Oriental Art, Antique Collector and Elle Décor. He is also an author of three academic publications focusing on snuff bottle collections from significant international institutions; The Blair Bequest, Chinese Snuff Bottles form the Princeton Museum of Art (2002); The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Chinese Snuff Bottles (2009) and Small Treasures: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chinese Snuff Bottles (2015).

Bonhams Global Head of Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Asaph Hyman said: “We are delighted to welcome Michael to our global team. He is extremely well regarded within the industry and his appointment will further strengthen our US and international presence.”




Dessa Goddard, US Head, Asian Art Group added: “We are thrilled to have Michael join us in the U.S. His broad talent and knowledge of the field is a tremendous asset to the team.”

Michael C. Hughes said of his appointment: “I’m very pleased to be joining Bonhams and I look forward to contributing my expertise and experience to its future success.”

BRUCE MACLAREN
Bonhams has promoted Bruce MacLaren as Vice President, Senior Specialist, Chinese Paintings, US, and Chinese Works of Art.

Having joined Bonhams in 2010, Bruce has brought numerous important consignments to sale at Bonhams include Wang Hui (1632-1717) Album of Landscapes, which achieved $3,999,000 in May 2015, and Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010) Fish Pool in the Mountain City, that made $1,963,000 in May 2012.

Prior to joining Bonhams, Bruce spent ten years as a curator of Chinese art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. During his tenure at the museum, he curated well-received exhibitions, such as Perfect Imbalance: Exploring Chinese Aesthetics and The Secret World of the Forbidden City. He also was the assistant curator of 'Yin Yu Tang', the relocation and interpretation of an 18th century, 16-bedroom merchant's house from Anhui, China to Salem, Massachusetts.

In addition to writing several articles on Chinese art and culture, Bruce has been invited to speak at symposiums and conferences in Hangzhou, China, Northeastern University, Simmons College, the Royal Ontario Museum and Oxford University. From 2006-2007, Bruce worked on contract for the Honolulu Art Academy for the exhibition, catalogue and symposium in support of New Songs on Ancient Tunes, Chinese Paintings from the Reverend Richard Fabian Collection.

Bruce holds a BA from Connecticut College, with a double major in Chinese and Asian Studies, and a MA degree in Art History from the University of Kansas, with a concentration on Chinese painting and calligraphy.