Robin Starr has recently been appointed to the position of general manager of Bonhams Skinner after more than 35 years with the company. Previously, Starr was a vice president and the director of American and European works of art, one of the company’s most important departments.

Congratulations on the new role! What are you most looking forward to in the position?

I’m excited to expand the scope of my work to include the diverse range of collecting categories from the industry-leading Americana department to wine and spirits. Through our local relationships and depth of expertise, Bonhams Skinner has established itself as a leader in these markets and now as an integral part of the Bonhams Network — we are bringing New England to a global audience. I am also interested in making certain that the clients who have been with Skinner for decades know that as part of the Bonhams Network, we are the same Skinner that they know and love, only better.

How do you see your experience and expertise contributing to the growth of Bonhams Skinner?

After 37 years, I have a deep understanding of the organization and its staff. The people at Bonhams Skinner are what make it successful, and I’ve known many of them for years if not decades. I’ll be able to take what I’ve learned from growing our American and European paintings and prints team to the larger organization as we continue serving the broader collecting community throughout New England and beyond.

Bonhams Skinner has brought new and expanded collecting categories to the Bonhams Network. We have a distinct role to play as we continue to work and grow in cooperation with our colleagues in the larger Bonhams family.

“Manchester Harbor” by Fitz Henry Lane (American, 1804-1865). Image courtesy Bonhams Skinner.

What kinds of challenges do you foresee encountering as the general manager?

It will be an exciting challenge to shift my focus to the larger organization and continue Bonhams Skinner’s proactive strategy to meet the needs of the ever-changing auction landscape. We are doing this by investing in our digital presence, shifting to structures that are more aligned with changing buyer behaviors and our commitment to the core market and further integrating ourselves into the Bonhams Network.

Since you joined the company in 1987 you’ve had a more hands-on role with artwork. How will that day-to-day experience with art differ now?

Luckily, I get to be around incredible works of art every day and I will play an active role in helping every department bring in important consignments and collections. I will, of course, miss the day-to-day of researching and cataloguing works of art. Working with the art and objects is why most of us get into this business, and I find cataloging relaxing and almost meditative. No doubt I will still sneak down to the fine art bins from time to time with my tape measure and my UV light.

Will you still be playing the role of auctioneer despite the new title?

Absolutely! I will continue to auctioneer for our live auctions at Skinner as well as help expand our roster of auctioneers. I also look forward to continuing to conduct numerous consignment days, lectures and benefit auctions throughout the year for local organizations such as the Worcester Art Museum, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and Compassionate Care ALS. And I will continue as an appraiser on the PBS television series The Antiques Roadshow.

Do you have any plans to strengthen the connection between Bonhams Skinner and local art communities?

I have always made an effort to integrate myself into New England’s thriving arts and culture community and that will never change. This is equally true for Bonhams Skinner as a whole — New England is integral to our identity — and I think there is a lot of opportunity to continue to engage with the community that has embraced us for more than 60 years.

“Abraham Lincoln: The Man” by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (Irish/American, 1848–1907). Image courtesy Bonhams Skinner.

Reflecting on your previous roles, what are some of the most notable or memorable pieces that you have worked with?

I have had the pleasure of bringing to auction a diverse range of works in the more than three decades I have worked with the company. This includes Agnes Martin’s diminutive “Blue Flower,” which sold for $1.5 million in May 2015, and “Abraham Lincoln: The Man” by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, which sold for $1.15 million in January 2022. The “Lincoln” is now a part of the collection at the Colby College Museum of Art.

We have also set numerous records in that time: Fitz Henry Lane’s atmospheric marine painting “Manchester Harbor” sold for $5.5 million, the highest price for a work of art at a New England auction, a Nineteenth Century Japanned high chest achieved $1.9 million, the record for a piece of American furniture sold at auction in New England, and “Portrait of Abigail Rose, North Brandford, Connecticut, 1786, at the Age of Fourteen” was sold for $1.27 million, a new world record for a Folk Art portrait. Not to mention the Imperial Qianlong period monumental fençai flower and landscape vase that sold for $24,720,000; a record for any Chinese work of art sold in the Western world.

—Carly Timpson