Julian Ehrlich Joins Gladstone Gallery After Breakout Run at Christie’s

Julian Ehrlich, the auction specialist known for infusing Christie’s mid-season sales with curatorial depth and market heat, has joined Gladstone Gallery as a director. The 27-year-old New York native brings with him a reputation for unearthing overlooked talent, cultivating fresh collector relationships, and championing acclaimed artists whose markets are still growing.

At Christie’s, Ehrlich spent the last four years shaping the “Post-War to Present” sale into a stage for rising markets and rediscovered voices. His September 2023 “Post-War to Present” sale brought in over $28 million and featured auction firsts for Joe Overstreet and Rick Lowe, alongside strong results for Gene Davis, Helen Frankenthaler, and Noah Purifoy, whose Totem smashed estimates by more than 750 percent.

Ehrlich now joins Gladstone’s senior team, where he’ll help expand the gallery’s work with contemporary artists and deepen its reach across institutional and collector networks. 

Max Falkenstein, a senior partner at Gladstone, told ARTnews that the gallery had been searching for someone who could bridge primary and secondary markets, and Ehrlich’s experience made him a standout. He also emphasized Ehrlich’s eye, noting his talent for pairing emerging and established artists, even within a market-driven context. “Julian has a real gift for working with artists and engaging with collectors—he understands both the primary and secondary markets, which is exactly what we were looking for,” Falkenstein said.

For Ehrlich, the move marks a continuation of the connective work he championed at auction—using market knowledge and historical curiosity to bring overlooked artists into the spotlight. At Christie’s, he often focused on artists who hadn’t yet had robust market exposure and helped bridge gaps between collectors, institutions, and unfamiliar names.

During his tenure at Christie’s, he helped set records for artists like Ana Mendieta, Ed Clark, and Lynne Drexler, while also advising on major consignments from the Adam Lindemann and Rosa de la Cruz collections. Before that, he worked in Sotheby’s postwar and contemporary art department.

Ehrlich describes his style as “always saying yes to learning something new.” That mindset has guided his approach to everything from client strategy to organizing inclusive sales that make room for unexpected juxtapositions—like pairing Rosemarie Castoro with Donald Judd.

At Gladstone, which maintains locations in New York, Brussels, and Seoul, Ehrlich will be stepping into a gallery known for championing both visionary contemporary practices and the legacies of major historical figures.