NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams announced the appointment of Kayla Carlsen as Senior Specialist, Head of Sales of the American Art Department. She comes to Bonhams after spending more than six years at another major international auction house in New York where she ultimately directed its mid-season sales of Fine American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture.

According to Alan Fausel, Department Head of American Art in New York, "We are very pleased to have Kayla on board. She will add energy and expertise to the department-allowing me to focus more on our institutional clients." With the addition of Ms. Carlsen, Bonhams will now maintain four specialists focused on American and Western Art with a combined experience of more than 70 years in the auction business.

Ms. Carlsen hails from the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York and has a broad interest in all aspects of the field. Her early interests in American History and Hudson River School painting led her to intern with the curatorial department at Olana, the home of artist Frederic Edwin Church, and to complete the Fellowship Program in American Material Culture at Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts. In addition, Ms. Carlsen has a keen interest in Modernist works and has focused her master's coursework in 20th century American art. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Art History from Clark University in Worcester, Mass., and is a Master's candidate in the field at Hunter College in New York.

Bonhams is the only auction house in the country that presents five sales dedicated solely to American art each year, including three sales of California and Western Art in its San Francisco and Los Angeles salerooms, and two sales of American art in its New York saleroom on Madison Avenue. These sales, which offer more than 800 lots annually, make Bonhams the only auction house to sell American Art on both coasts with such frequency.

An extensive international network of salerooms, offices and representatives allows Bonhams to source American art from around the globe. Offering more sales than any of its rivals, Bonhams has two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and three more in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, Calif., New York and Connecticut in the US; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia.

The department is presently accepting consignments for its fall sales in both California and New York.