LOS ANGELES, CA.- Rago/Wright announced that Lilly Dawson has joined as Associate Director, Fine Art based in the firm's Los Angeles office. This appointment strengthens the firm's West Coast presence with a seasoned specialist whose career spans more than three decades at leading auction houses, galleries and private advisory, and whose expertise encompasses American, Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art.

Dawson joins Rago/Wright from her own practice, Gray Dawson Art Advisory which she has run since 2023 advising clients across London, Los Angeles and New York on Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art. She brings more than three decades of experience spanning both the auction and gallery worlds. She began her career in American art at Christie's New York, later serving as Director, American Art at Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg where she built a newly formed department into a competitive force in the American art auction market. She returned to Christie's as Vice President, Specialist in American art in 2003, then spent six years as Director at Driscoll Babcock Galleries. In 2013 she joined Sotheby's as Vice President, Senior Specialist in American Art leading the house's inaugural Arts of the American West sale. Upon moving to London in 2016, Dawson was named Senior Sales Associate at Simon C. Dickinson Ltd, where she specialized in Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art for seven years.





She holds an MA in Art History from the University of Virginia. She has contributed to exhibition scholarship on topics ranging from Robert Scott Duncanson, Carl Rungius and Alan Gussow, a chapter in Sotheby's The Spirit of America — The Wolf Family Collection (2023) to American modernism, Alfred Stieglitz and Arthur Dove.

Dawson joins Rago/Wright at a moment of continued growth for the firm's Fine Art department on the West Coast, complementing the expertise Rago/Wright brings to the region through its LA Modern Auctions (LAMA) affiliate.

“I am excited to join a firm with Rago/Wright's reputation for expertise, client care and dynamic auction presence. I look forward to sharing my experience and passion across categories with both established and new clients, collectors and institutions in Los Angeles and expanding upon the firm’s presence on the West Coast,” says Dawson.