Meet Julia Marie Wendl

Julia Marie Wendl the owner, CEO, and an auctioneer at Kunst-Auktionshaus WENDL. Julia received her MA in Art Business from Sotheby's Institute of Art-London in 2019.

---

How did your time at Sotheby’s Institute of Art shape your career in the auction world?

I came to Sotheby’s Institute of Art-London after already obtaining my German auctioneer’s license and a solid undergraduate education in the history of fine and decorative art. In theory, I could have started working right away. However, the MA in Art Business was the next natural step for me, ensuring I understood the structural, ethical, and legal aspects of the art world while gaining deeper insight into the economic and marketing dynamics of the art market. The program provided me with the foundation to develop my own business ethics and strategies based on a solid understanding of international art market rules and trends. This knowledge gave me the confidence to navigate the challenging years that followed, particularly in steering our family-run auction house through a global pandemic. I also appreciated how Sotheby's Institute offered an outsider’s perspective on the auction market—refreshing to me as an insider—and through the questions and diverse approaches of my colleagues, I learned how to handle international clients while remaining true to our German auction traditions.

What key insights or experiences from your MA in Art Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art have had a lasting impact on your approach to running an auction house?

I was particularly influenced by Sotheby’s Institute’s holistic “one art world” approach, which examines how the different players in the art world ecosystem influence and (hopefully) collaborate with one another. This mindset informs my role as an auctioneer, as well as my positions on the board of trustees for the German Cultural Foundation and the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Goods of National Importance in Thuringia. I believe that by working together, the commercial, private, and public sectors of the art world can better protect and appreciate art and antiques, ultimately serving our common cultural heritage more effectively.

The Law & Ethics unit was my favorite part of the course. It heightened my awareness of how the decisions made by one player in the art world can influence the further “life” and reception of an artwork. Wherever possible, I voluntarily follow the stricter guidelines for public collections when deciding whether certain objects will be included in our next auction (e.g., the Washington Principles and guidelines for art and artifacts from colonial contexts). We were exposed to global trends while studying at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and working in London. Bringing this attitude back to the world of German mid-range auction houses was not without its challenges, but with the full support of my fantastic team, I now see mindsets shifting all around me.

Could you share a memorable moment or project from your time at Sotheby’s Institute that influenced your path in the art market?

I wrote my Master’s dissertation on anonymous sales transactions and the resulting provenance issues faced by the art world—a topic that has certainly stayed with me. I am acutely aware that as an auctioneer, I am a keeper of art transaction information and, by extension, provenance data. Consequently, we make sales data as widely accessible as possible and continuously work to improve our archive.

The study trips were also wonderful highlights of the program. We had the opportunity to engage with art fair organizers and museum directors, not only exploring their impressive exhibitions but also learning about the organizational structures and artistic philosophies behind them. I greatly enjoyed the time spent with my colleagues and tutors, as well as the networking opportunities with industry professionals during those trips and visits.

I also fondly remember the opportunity to choose my own topic for a guided tour that I led through the London Art Fair—an opportunity arranged by the Institute. I based my tour on the knowledge I had gained while working on the collections project (coursework) and chose to highlight contemporary art that referenced Old Masters. Being an official tour guide, navigating a busy fair, and presenting to an audience with varying levels of art historical knowledge was a steep learning curve, but it was an experience I greatly appreciated.

What inspired you to pursue a career as an auctioneer and eventually lead your family’s auction house?

I was born a year after my parents founded Kunst-Auktionshaus WENDL, so the business and I grew up together. I was fascinated by the exposure to such a wealth of artworks and antiques, and it felt natural to be surrounded by centuries-old furniture, tableware, and paintings. My parents were private collectors too and they furnished our home with the art and antiques they collected.

Since I was 12 years old, I have helped out during auctions—writing auction protocols, handing out antiques at the collection points, and handling German and English-speaking phone bidders. The business grew from just my parents with 600 lots in the first sale to now 15 permanent staff members and three yearly sales of 3,500 lots each. As my father neared retirement, I was saddened by the idea that the auction house might eventually close, and since my brother was not interested in running the business, I decided to take on the challenge.

What have been some of the most rewarding aspects of leading Kunst-Auktionshaus WENDL, particularly in modernizing the business?

I officially took over the ownership of our auction house in January 2021, though I had gradually assumed many key management and directorship tasks long before that. Joining the business with many staff members who have been there since I was a little girl, while simultaneously being the youngest member of the team and in the most senior position, was challenging. Nonetheless, I am incredibly grateful that my team has been open to new approaches and has shown great support for my attempts to restructure and modernize several aspects of our business. Seeing these ideas and improvements take off, benefiting our staff, clients, and the business overall, has been most rewarding for me. We take great care to maintain our supportive and open team dynamic.

Creating a completely new website and login area with live-bidding and online payment options (not through an auction platform) was a significant step. We conducted our first auction with a new back-office system just a week before the first Covid lockdown. It was a rocky path, but everyone saw the benefits; the independence and ease with online customer services we gained helped us through the following years when we were rarely allowed to welcome bidders in person. We are especially proud to continue offering traditional bidding practices (e.g., commission bids & telephone bids) alongside online (live) bidding, while many auction platforms have stopped supporting those completely. I personally enjoy improving the auction experience by leveraging today’s technology while also keeping traditions alive.

How do you integrate the skills and knowledge you gained at Sotheby’s Institute into your daily operations and long-term strategies?

I apply the basic legal knowledge I gained at Sotheby’s Institute in my daily operations. For instance, I check artworks for potential copyright issues before advertising them, use my understanding of buyer/vendor contracts when negotiating terms, and advise my team on when and how to check for questionable provenance or CITES restrictions when taking in new consignments. While the Excel training during the collections project was very helpful, the general understanding of the areas that require investigation, research, and attention has had the greatest impact on my business approach. The research skills I developed allow me to gather and analyze information quickly. Additionally, I believe I have developed a good instinct for trends and marketing opportunities by reading and experiencing them firsthand. Learning about auctions and the art world in an international, academic context has greatly benefited me. I always consider my long-term strategies for our local auction house in the context of the global art world. I am aware of our place in this ecosystem and strive to contribute as much as possible while also recognizing our limitations.

In your view, how has the art market evolved since you completed your studies, and what role does education play in navigating these changes?

Even during my studies, there was a strong focus on digitalization and globalization—trends that the pandemic has only accelerated and which I believe will continue. Many traditional auction houses rely on the exposure that online bidding platforms like the-saleroom.com and invaluable.com can generate for them. Hybrid auction approaches, where bidders can choose between traditional methods such as room bids, commission bids, and telephone bids, as well as digital methods like live auction bidding (including automated bids that are hidden from the auctioneer), are more common than ever. The online-only auction sector has also grown. Many people have become more cautious about the volatility of the contemporary art market, while ethical debates span the private, public, and commercial sectors, leading to new regulations and changing what is considered “best practice” in the art world. This applies to museums, auction houses, and all other players. I believe that these changes can be better navigated with a thorough understanding of the individual roles, needs, and challenges of all players in the art world ecosystem. Continuous education is crucial when addressing the challenges arising from transnational transactions and transcultural interactions, both from a legal and market customs/socioeconomic perspective.

What advice would you give to current students and recent graduates of Sotheby’s Institute who aspire to careers in the auction or broader art market?

Watch many different auctions and auctioneers in action to develop a “feeling” for how bidders react to different auctioneering styles. Then, depending on your audience, region, and the key values associated with the auction house you work for, develop your own style. Is it fast-paced and edgy because people are looking for the thrill? Is it slow and calm because you have a large international audience that needs time to translate and click on the bid button during online live-bidding? There is one aspect I would like to see in every auctioneer, transparency. Honesty always pays off, and in today’s art market, where people increasingly rely on digital bidding options, it is crucial to show as a community of auctioneers that modern technologies are not being abused. The integrity of the auctioneer and their team make or break the trust of the clients. Transparency is key!

How do you see the future of auction houses in the digital age, especially with the ethical considerations that are increasingly important today?

I hope that auction houses can play a significant role in continuously shaping an increasingly ethical art world. The digital age has led most auction houses to offer their lots online—either through their own websites, through platforms, or, in our case, both. This means that more sales transaction data is available online than ever before, and if used wisely, this could lead to more reliable tracking of artworks and their ownership history. Ironically, for buyers, online purchasing is also more anonymous than in-person, and with the availability of online catalogues, the threshold for participation is lower than before. I would therefore hope for the smart use of digital opportunities in guiding buyer decisions.

Personally, I would greatly appreciate an easier method for cross-checking claims and identifying red flags related to provenance, ownership disputes, thefts, CITES regulations, fakes, forgeries, and more. Each nation has several platforms, registers, and institutions that address these issues—often separately—meaning that various resources would need to be consulted for each individual lot in each country. It would be wonderful to combine forces in this regard, and auction houses could be key contributors to this effort.

Overall, I believe that the ability to cater to a traditional auction room audience while simultaneously holding a live sale online is a great advantage of the digital age, contributing to the democratization of art collecting. We ourselves operate from a small town in the middle of Germany and sell art and antiques to collectors from China to Chile. Auction houses, digitalization, and globalization certainly work well together. Therefore, I am projecting a bright future for our industry if we do our due diligence and take up the challenge of rethinking old structures to address the ethical and moral questions of today’s art market.

We art auctioneers will continue to become more and more sensitized to our responsibility as temporary custodians while we pass pieces of cultural heritage from one hand to another. The concept of auctions will continue to exist, as they are generally reliable, knowledgeable, and time-proven intermediaries in art sales transactions.