Biography
Lily Zirlin serves as an Associate Specialist in the Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art department, based in New York. With nearly four years of experience at Sotheby’s, Zirlin spearheads global scholarly research, cataloguing and proposals for biannual auctions and private sales.
Since joining the department in February 2022, her work has contributed to several record-breaking auctions and the sale of significant collections such as the Virginia and Ravi Akhoury Collection and the Estate of His Excellency Jamsheed K. Marker and Diana Marker, among others. One of the key projects during her tenure was conceptualizing Masterpieces: Sayed Haider Raza 1955-1985, a selling exhibition in London in November 2023, together with the department head, and executing the research, catalogue, editorial, and gallery design.
Zirlin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a triple major in South Asia Studies, Political Science and Hispanic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts degree in South Asia Studies specializing in modern art from Columbia University in the City of New York. Prior to joining Sotheby’s, she worked at the Philadelphia Museum of Art under Darielle Mason, former Stella Kramrisch Curator of Indian and Himalayan Art, Delhi Art Gallery in their Mumbai and New York locations, and Christie’s South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art department in New York.
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