President, Heritage Auctions, Dallas Offering sales in more than three dozen categories, from numismatics and wine to ethnographic art and comic books, Heritage Auctions is more limber than ever. Rohan, who joined the house’s ranks 30 years ago as executive vice-president and rare coins manager, has kept the house intensely competitive in his role as president. As recently as May, Heritage set a record for a Norman Rockwell oil study when Study for Triple Self-Portrait, 1960, realized $1.3 million, reaffirming the house’s success with American works. And yet, while much of Heritage’s business is conducted in this country, it continues to lure buyers from across the globe, thanks in no small part to its savvy web operationWhat does the current market look like from Heritage’s perspective? We like the current market. 2016 was a challenge for all auction houses. Regardless of whom they supported, many clients put off making major buying or selling decisions until after the American election, but now they are back doing good regular business, and in many cases, making up for last year's inactivity. We have seen a nice influx of new bidders, and of sellers who have been watching Heritage from the sidelines. They like what they see, and are asking us to the table to make proposals.Heritage recently set the auction record for a Norman Rockwell study. How important is American art to the house? We are the largest American auction house, so naturally American Art is a category that is both fundamental and dear to Heritage. We are considered by many to be leaders in the fields of illustration and Western art—two categories that are uniquely American. Golden Age illustration is certainly having a moment as an incredibly popular and important subgroup within the field of American art. We are thrilled to be an integral part of its Success, recently setting a new auction record for an oil study by Rockwell. In particular, we see tremendous crossover collecting of illustration art and American art from bidders across all 40 of our categories.People continue to associate the house with luxury items and accessories, too. What makes Heritage so successful in that area? As the first auction house to establish a separate department for luxury handbags, we established ourselves as the leader in luxury with access to the most incredible pieces in the world. We developed long-standing relationships with our clients and are always accessible to source special requests and place rare handbags in top condition, privately and at auction. In addition to hosting exceptional luxury accessories auctions, we are known for personalized service and complete transparency.What are some other notable lots that the house has sold recently? The Norman Rockwell record of $1.3 million for his Study for Triple Self-Portrait is just one of many significant and high-profile lots sold recently. Our comics category just set a $717,000 world record for the single most valuable piece of American comic art and we claimed a $275,000 world record with the sale of the most valuable political flag ever offered at auction. Heritage also played a role in helping a small church with the $517,000 sale of a rare, 19th-century gold coin. We have seen immense growth in our private treaty sales and we recently set the record for the most valuable post-war baseball card with the $1.1 million sale of a Mickey Mantle rookie card. Clearly, we have seen growth across all of our fine art and collectibles categories.Heritage boasts a sophisticated online operation. How would you describe the house’s strategy there, and how do you see it evolving in the years ahead? Our strategy centers around providing the best available accessibility and informational resources to our clients and the significant objects they wish to buy and sell. We strive to leverage the latest relevant technologies to improve our clients’ experience with Heritage from wherever they may be in the world— increasingly on mobile touch points like phones, tablets, watches, etc. The key is meeting our clients’ needs with as little friction as possible and with complete transparency.Where do you generally see potential for growth? Categories with universal appeal that we can market to our more than a million bidder-members in 192 countries. That would include art, sports, jewelry and handbags, wine, pop culture, comics, and natural history.
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