Episode 29: A Conversation with Denise Bethel, Part II
This is the second part of a conversation I had with Denise Bethel to discuss the second chapter of her career at Sotheby’s.
Denise is originally from Virginia. She did her undergraduate degree at Hollins College, in Roanoke and in 1973 she headed to London to study 19th Century British Painting at The Courtauld Institute of Art. Back in the United States, she worked as the Curator of The Poe Foundation in Richmond, Virginia from 1975-79. She joined Swann Galleries in 1980. Denise’s last sale at Swann was in the fall of 1989. She started working at Sotheby’s in 1990 and handled some of the most important photographs to come to auction.
Some highlights:
Edward Steichen, Moonlight, 2006 $2,928,000 ($4,648,122.48 in 2024)
Edward Weston, Nude, 2008, $1,609,000
Herbert Bayer, Lonely Metropolitan, 2012, $1,482,500
Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe (Hands), 2006, $1,472,000
Catalogue for the Graham Nash Collection, April 1990
