Stephen Lash (born February 10, 1940) is founder of

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

North America and the Chairman Emeritus of Christie's New York.

Biography

He attended Avon Old Farms boarding school for boys. He was a trustee to the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...

. He also served as a Trustee of the Preservation League of New York State.

Christie's North America

hired Lash in 1976. For over ten years, Lash was the chairman of ''Christie's Americas''. In 1984, Lash became the vice president in the estates and appraisals department.

Historic sale of Klimts

Under Lash's direction in 2006, the collection of Adele Bloch-Bauer niece

Maria Altmann Maria Altmann (née Maria Victoria Bloch, later Bloch-Bauer; February 18, 1916 – February 7, 2011) was an Austrian-American Jewish refugee from Austria, who fled her home country after it was annexed to the Nazi’s Third Reich. She is noted f ...

, which included four paintings by

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

returned to Altmann after a decade-long legal battle, sold at Christie's. The paintings were Adele Bloch-Bauer II, ''Apple Tree I'', ''Birch Trees'', and ''Houses at Attersee''. A fifth and final Klimt, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, sold in a private sale to billionaire

Ronald Lauder Ronald Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman and pro-Israel political activist. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, are the sole heirs to the Estée Lauder Companies, Estée Lauder cosmetics company, founded by their ...

in 2006 for $135 million.

Past and current boards

Lash has served as the co-chair of the Maritime Visiting Committee at the

Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and th ...

, and he was the founder and first president of the Ocean Liner Museum. He serves on the boards of the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, and he is co-chairman of the ''American Friends of the''

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

. He is also the Acting President and Trustee of the

New York University Institute of Fine Arts New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lash, Stephen

American chairpersons of corporations Living people 1940 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews American people of Jewish descent Businesspeople from New York (state) People from Brookline, Massachusetts