Heritage Art Auctions

Ed Beardsley is Heritage Auction’s Vice President and Managing Director, Fine & Decorative Arts.  With over 15 years of auction experience, Ed brings a special focus to Heritage’s newer auction categories, including Fine & Decorative Arts, Luxury Accessories, Fine Wine, Fine Minerals, and Estate and Special Collections.  He is also involved in Heritage’s strategic growth through new offices and showrooms in New York and Beverly Hills.  Ed enjoys being a part of one of the industry’s most friendly, approachable, and growing auction houses.

Rachel Peart, a Kansas native, is a Consignment Director in the Fine Arts Department at Heritage. She joined the company in 2007, starting out in the Historical Department. After a year in her position as the Consignment Coordinator for Rare Books, Rachel became the Project Manager for the Fine & Decorative Arts Department, serving in that capacity for almost two years before becoming a Lead Cataloger in the department.  In June 2010, she was promoted to Associate Consignment Director specializing in Vintage and Contemporary Photography.  She recently transferred to Heritage’s New York office with a promotion to Consignment Director in Fine Art.  Rachel received her BFA in Art History from the University of Kansas and interned with the Registrar at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City.

Frank Hettig is Heritage Auction's Director of Modern & Contemporary Art.  In addition to more than twelve years of auction experience, Frank has a well-regarded reputation as a curator, critic and connoisseur of contemporary art. Trained as an art historian at the University of Amsterdam, Frank advised on exhibitions and museum catalogues and has lectured at a number of colleges and universities both in the US and overseas. At both the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles (German Cultural Institute) and the Consulate General of the Netherlands, he conceptualized and coordinated a variety of international cultural events including lectures and symposia, guest artist exhibitions and performing arts programs. As an independent art critic he has written reviews and features in English, German and Dutch for publications such as Archis, Art/Text, Artforum, Bauwelt, Forum International, das Kunstwerk, Kunstforum and Metropolis, among others. Frank has handled auctions of many private collections, corporate art collections including a Fortune 100 Company, the Estate of Dr. Edmund Pillsbury among others; and is also overseeing Heritage’s growth in Latin-American Art and Chinese Art.

Todd has extensive experience working in the art world, dealing in everything from contemporary to comic art, and is the author of the books The Art of Jaime Hernandez/The Secrets of Life and Death (winner of a 2011 Harvey Award and voted one of Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2010), and In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists, among many other publications. He is also the founder and editor of the critically lauded publication Comic Art (nominated for Eisner Awards every year of its existence and winner of a 2004 Harvey Award). Todd holds a Master's Degree in Art History from Washington University in St. Louis and has curated numerous exhibitions on contemporary art, comics, and illustration art, including R. Crumb's Underground, which toured museums across the country. Todd joined Heritage Auctions in 2008 as a Consignment Director and was promoted to a Vice President in 2011.

With a Master's Degree from the Cooper Hewitt Museum's program in Decorative Arts History, Karen's career has led her down numerous paths including the development of exhibitions and collections of modern design as well as into teaching. She entered the field working with renowned museum collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Honing her eye and expanding  her knowledge through extensive travel and exposure to important European collections enhanced her roles in development and purchasing for galleries in Birmingham, MI, Chicago and Atlanta before joining the Silver and Decorative Arts Departments at Heritage in 2007.

Carolyn brings more than a decade of experience in both live and online auctions to her position at Heritage Auction Galleries Beverly Hills, as well as an extensive background in appraising and vetting Furniture and Decorative Arts, Fine Art, Collectibles, Musical Instruments and Entertainment Memorabilia. Prior to joining Heritage, Carolyn served as Director in the Sunset Estate Department at Bonhams & Butterfields, also serving as Generalist and Auctioneer,  where she established a proven track record in working with large consignments and institutions in Hollywood and Southern California.  During that 10 year span Carolyn also provided auction services to numerous charities including Stars for a Cause, The LOOC foundation, Wheels for Humanity, The Beverly Hills Bar Association Barristers, The Chrysalis Foundation, Project Angel Food among the many.

Alissa is well versed on the art market, having managed multi-million dollar collections nationwide, helping collectors find premier paintings by important California and Western artists; and having worked both at major California and New York auction houses and alongside some of the country’s most respected dealers.  Alissa received her BA in Art History with an emphasis in the Italian Renaissance, then pursued her Master’s in American Fine and Decorative Arts. After spending several years in New York, Alissa decided to return to her native grounds to specialize in the great masters of the American West, working in the California Painting department of another prominent auction house and as Director of a highly recognized California Art Gallery. “I realized early on that this niche of the market is filled with passionate collectors and I feel fortunate to continue to build relationships with those buyers ” In addition to her role as Director, California Art, Alissa acts as one of the company’s auctioneers.

After several years assisting Heritage Auctions on retainer, Brian Roughton joined the team as Director of American & European Paintings in January, 2012.  With 45 years experience as the owner and president of Roughton Galleries, Inc., he brings to Heritage a highly respected international reputation as an expert in both 19th & early 20th century important American and European paintings.

Mr. Roughton is distinguished for his scholarship and actively supports research in American and European art. He is currently working on the forthcoming catalogue raisonne for the works of French academic painter Leon Bazile Perrault. In addition, with Mr. Roughton’s extensive working knowledge, experience and expertise, he is an accepted authority for the works of Edouard L. Cortes, Antoine Blanchard,  Hovsep Pushman, Johann Berthelsen, and Guy C. Wiggins.

Along with his colleagues on the coasts, Mr. Roughton's goal is to assist and direct Heritage Auctions American and European Paintings department to become the house of choice for important American and European art at the highest level  and to continue his dedication to further the education of the American public regarding its artistic and cultural heritage.

Roughton is a member of several organizations including the IAGA (International Art Galleries Association), IFAA (International Fine Art Appraisers), and formerly the FADA, (Fine Art Dealers Association), where he held a position on the Board of Directors and Vetting Committee.

Deborah Epstein Solon holds a B.A. from Vassar College and a Ph.D. in Art History from the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. For nine years she was an independent curator, working with museums across the country. Her exhibitions, all accompanied by major catalogues, include: East Coast West Coast and Beyond: Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist (Hudson Hills Press, 2006); Alson Skinner Clark, American Impressionist (Hudson Hills Press, 2005); In and Out of California: Travels of American Impressionists (Laguna Art Museum and Hudson Hills Press, 2002); Colonies of American Impressionism: Cos Cob, Old Lyme, Shinnecock, and Laguna Beach ( Laguna Art Museum, 1999).

Previously, Dr. Solon spent five years as the Director of Research for Karges Fine Art, a renowned Los Angeles gallery specializing in American Impressionist painting. Her publications in conjunction with Karges Fine Art include: Ross Dickinson: The Early Works (1993); Birds, Boughs and Blossoms: Jessie Arms Botke (1995); Cornelis Botke: A Painter and Etcher Revisited (1996); Clyde Scott: Paintings from the Robert and Rea Westenhaver Collection (1999). She has lectured extensively on American Impressionism, and was a co-producer of the documentary Art Colonies in America: The American Impressionists, which was the “Silver Screen Award” winner at the U.S. International Film and Video Festival in 2004.

Between 2005 and 2011, Dr. Solon was a professor of art history at Saddleback College, The Laguna College of Art and Design, Santa Ana College, and California State University, Fullerton. She is currently the West Coast Director of American Paintings at Heritage Auctions, Beverly Hills.