About Carina Villinger

Founder of Artes Advisory

Artes Advisory has over 20 years of experience in the art market. Carina Villinger spent 13 years at the New York auction house Christie’s, where she worked with private collectors, museums and corporate collections. As a senior vice president, she headed the 20th Century Decorative Art & Design Department, before establishing Artes Advisory in 2018.

Ms. Villinger has performed valuations on behalf of private clients, national appraisal firms, insurance companies and major museums throughout her career at Christie’s and at Artes Advisory. She has recently provided appraisals for works donated to museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Detroit Institute of Art as well as the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research in Bloomfield Hills.

During her tenure at Christie’s, the department was instrumentally involved in many record-breaking sales, among them the collection of Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé. Ms. Villinger achieved exceptional results in the 20th century decorative art and design market, such as the record-breaking price of a set of 10 Mouton de Pierre sheep sculptures by Francois-Xavier Lalanne for $7.47 million (a world record at auction for the artist at the time).

Prior to joining Christie’s, Ms. Villinger worked as a specialist in the 20th century decorative art and design departments at Sotheby’s London and Phillips New York. This exposure allowed her to develop a firsthand sense of the international markets and work with collectors in Europe and the United States. 

Ms. Villinger holds a degree from the Royal Society of Art in London, specializing in Fine and Decorative Arts, and a degree in economics from the University of Bonn in Germany. This combination of a business and art history education has led Ms. Villinger to appreciate the unique challenges of the art market from a commercial as well as an academic point of view.

She is a member of the board of directors of the Appraiser certified member of the Appraisers Association of America, and a member of the Admissions Committee. All appraisals issued by Artes Advisory are USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) compliant.